Worthless Priceless
by Captain Pihkal
Summary: Slavery AU – At a slave market Kurt rescues a slave from certain death and takes him home. Hurt/Comfort
1. Prologue

**Warning: Story contains discussion of abuse and rape**

Prologue

When they say a car loses a certain percentage of its original value the moment you drive it off the lot, what they mean is that the value of a car decreases in the years you own it. The same is true for slaves and, just like it is with cars, the rate at which a slave's value decreases is determined by a number of factors.

One of these factors is the slave's age. Slave children are usually allowed to remain in their parent's care until the age of 14, if the slave's owner doesn't decide otherwise. Slave traders are obligated to sell children with their parents, although, to be fair, no one really investigates whether or not they really do. Then again, no one ever seems to investigate anything concerning the treatment of slaves. Slaves are considered most valuable in their teens and early twenties. After that, their value decreases rather rapidly, but since slaves hardly ever live to their 40's, this drop in value hardly concerns anyone.

Other factors such as skills, strength, obedience, training and experience are factors that aren't as easily quantifiable and are usually assessed by the slave traders for each slave individually.

The most important factor, however, is the purpose a slave is used for. Slaves that are used for hard labour may expire rapidly if they are not well taken care of, but, if treated well, a slave's value may even increase as they gain strength and skill.

This does not apply to pleasure slaves. Pleasure slaves are the most frequently re-sold type of slave, since their owners usually get bored of them rather quickly, which makes the pleasure slave market one of the biggest slave markets there is.

Beauty is a curse for slaves. Only the prettiest of slave children are taken to be sold as pleasure slaves, usually at an age as early as 12. From the moment their virginity is taken, their worth only decreases. The first time a pleasure slave is re-sold their price will be somewhere around 50% of the price they were originally sold for. After the second owner they'll be worth 25% of their original price.

To inform their customers about the number of owners the slaves have had, slave traders will often arrange their slaves in lines under banners that say "NEW", "50% off", "75% off", "87,5% off" or "93,75% off". Each slave has to undergo a medical examination before they can be re-sold. If a pleasure slave contracts a sexually transmitted infection or disease, their worth immediately drops to zero. The costs for medical treatment usually exceed the slave's value so slave traders usually don't pay for treatment. Those slaves are either 'put down' immediately or put under a sign that says "100% off" as an indicator to their predicament, they can be bought for miniscule sums, though they usually aren't since no one ever choses a diseased slave over a healthy one. A healthy slave with 3 previous owners is easily affordable as well, which is why most traders don't even bother announcing to the world that they even have a diseased slave in their lot and just get rid of them right away.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

His father had taken Kurt to slave markets on multiple occasions, so Kurt knew how to talk to the slave traders and what the various banners indicated. However, Burt had never let Kurt go anywhere near pleasure slave markets. Now, standing in the middle of one of the biggest travelling pleasure slave markets that had put up its auction tents in Lima Ohio for the weekend, he understood why.

Rows and rows of slaves were lined up as far as he could see, their bodies scantily clad if not completely exposed. All of them were looking at the ground in what was supposed to be a respectful position, but the truth was that most of them had been trained to stand like this since their early childhood, so that the position held no meaning any longer. It was a rather chilly autumn day and the slaves were all trying to suppress tremors that threatened to shake their bodies. He was somewhat glad to see that they had at least been given permission to wear shoes.

"Damn it, we should have come earlier, I hope there's still some good ones here somewhere", Santana mumbled under her breath so only Kurt could hear her.

"How can you even talk like that", he hissed "They're people!"

"You agreed to come, not my fault if you don't wanna be here!" Santana said.

"I'm here because you are holding my new Marc Jacobs jacket hostage and you threatened to burn it if I didn't give you a ride here!", he pointed out.

"Whatever, I'm gonna go look for my birthday present. You can go pluck your eyebrows or whatever", Santana said before wandering off. Kurt could tell her insults were half-hearted.

She would never admit it, but Santana was nervous. The real reason she had chosen to blackmail Kurt into helping her wasn't because she needed a ride, but because Kurt was the only person in their Glee club who knew his way around a slave market. His father's shop 'Hummel's Tire and Lube' was the home of many slaves. Most people didn't bother trying to teach slaves valuable skills, since most people didn't even really consider them human, but Burt Hummel didn't believe that. He liked buying 'cheap' slaves off the markets and teaching them all he could about cars. He took them in and gave them a roof over their heads, three big meals a day and an education. So far he had been able to turn each and every one of the ten slaves they had had in the past decade into a great mechanic.

What the Hummel slaves didn't know and what Kurt had had no idea about either until it happened for the first time three years ago, was that Burt Hummel didn't keep the slaves in his possession. After ten years he set them free with a bank account into which he had paid a monthly salary, not much less than he would have to pay a non-slave, for every month they had been with them. The difference was just enough to cover the additional housing costs etc. just enough to make sure that Hummel's Tire and Lube was still making enough money. It was a generous stepping stone into an independent life for a slave. He also offered them the opportunity to stay employed at Hummel's Tire and Lube, which so far every slave had happily agreed to. Of the three men who had been the Hummel's slaves for over ten years, two had remained with them, while another one had left to get married and start a new life. Kurt was proud of his dad.

"Kurt!" Santana called, raising her arm high above her head, so he could make out her location through the rows off slaves. "Get over here!"

He sighed and passed through the 50% OFF section to get to the "NEW MERCHANDISE" section, which was marked by a bright purple banner with silver letters that seemed overly bright and enthusiastic hanging above all those miserable slaves. Though Kurt had to admit, the new slaves didn't look anywhere near as exhausted and bruised as the other slaves. They did however look just as terrified. Kurt shook his head in disdain and joined Santana, who was looking at one of the slave girls as though Christmas had come early.

"She's perfect", Santana beamed. The girl was indeed beautiful, with long blonde hair that fell down her shoulders in a gentle wave. She was taller than Santana and slightly undernourished, but he could see that she had been perfectly fit and healthy up until recently; he could still see toned muscle from exercise. She must have been treated well, since she was a new slave. Since she seemed barely younger than Kurt and Santana, her parent's owners must have held on to her for longer than most owners did. He wondered what made them sell her now. The girl had yet to react to their scrutinizing glances.

"Are you sure you're done looking?" He asked Santana, who didn't even bother to take her eyes off the slave girl to tell him 'yes'.

"Alright, I'll see if I can find a trader." Kurt turned to leave, but on second thought turned back around and whispered "I was serious before, let me do the talking when I come back with a trader and meanwhile don't let anyone else look at her. Just… don't move."

"Whatever, Glinda", Santana dismissed him. But Kurt knew as he walked away that she would do as he told her anyway.

It took Kurt a surprising amount of time to even set eyes on a slave trader. Sure, it was a busy day, but they were usually by a new customer's side within a minute. But other than the armed personnel that guarded the perimeter and would shoot any slave stupid enough to try and run away on sight, the market seemed to be severely understaffed. The two traders he did pass were already busy bargaining with other potential buyers. He had no desire to wait in line so he kept moving.

He made his way through the 75% OFF and the 87,5% OFF section and noted with a shudder that the clientele got rougher and dirtier the further he wandered from the NEW slave section. The slaves in the 93,75% OFF section were some of the most pitiful creatures he had ever seen, each one of them seemed at the verge of collapse, with bones showing under sporadically cleaned pale skin. They were shivering more violently than the new slaves had, and when he averted his gaze he saw that not all of them had been given shoes and the ones that had been given shoes didn't seem to have right sized ones. The traders must have run out of shoes. Kurt's heart went out to them. If he could, he would buy them all and give them a nice home and as much food as they could possibly want. He and his family could never afford that though, so he could do nothing but look away and focus on not showing the disgust he felt on his face. Showing compassion for the slaves would not go well in this place.

Kurt found three traders standing in a semi-circle in the very back of the market, they seemed deep in discussion. While Kurt wouldn't usually pass off an opportunity to rudely interrupt them just for the sake of making their day less comfortable, he couldn't help but be nosy about why they'd be back here and not tending to the needs of their customers. He pretended to be interested in the last slave in the long line he had just passed, while eavesdropping on the trio of men who were caught up in an animated discussion not seven feet away from Kurt.

"…no way I'm putting this up, it'll scare away the buyers." Said one of the men, Kurt heard a cluttering noise and glanced over his shoulders to see that one of the men had thrown a purple banner on the ground. "What self-respecting traders bother dragging along a diseased one? I say we off him and be done with it."

Lima had a few tight restrictions for slave markets. Traders were not allowed to kill slaves within Lima's city limits. This was in no way a rule to protect slaves; it was put in place to protect Lima's citizens from the smell of decomposing bodies that had not been properly disposed of.

"You know we can't do it while we're still within city limits, we could lose our license." Another man said in a calm voice. He was wearing a suit and looked very put together. Kurt assumed he must be the owner of the market since the average trader was usually clad in simple black pants and shirts.

"Look at 'im! No one's gonna buy that, I wouldn't take 'im if I got 'im for free. That thing's completely worthless." The third man said.

"That doesn't change the law. I won't risk it. You can throw him off the bridge outside Marysville if you want, but until then you'll have to put up with him." The man in the suit insisted and turned to leave. "No use wasting food on him any more though." He called back over his shoulder.

There was a quiet sob that caught Kurt's and the remaining two men's attention.

Kurt turned around slowly to see where the noise had come from and his heart sank. Now that the man in the suit had left, Kurt could see that the three men had been standing around a kneeling slave, thereby inadvertently shielding him from Kurt's view.

It was a boy. Kurt couldn't guess his age because his head was lowered so far that his neck had to hurt. The matted dark curls on his head hadn't been brushed or washed in a while and looked awfully tangled and unclean. The boy was only wearing a pair of filthy old boxers that looked as though they were going to fall apart at any minute. He was so gaunt that Kurt could see his ribs sticking out from his exposed upper body. Large, dark bruises shone through the layer of grime he was covered in.

The first man grabbed a handful of the boy's hair and yanked his head back.

"What was that, bitch?" He hissed. The boy whimpered, shaking his head as violently as the man's grip on his hair allowed.

"Answer me, whore!" The man yelled in the boy's face. "You think you deserve to be fed, huh? Think you gonna find someone else who still wants to fuck your diseased little holes? Is that what you think?"

"No, Sir", the boy whispered. His voice was rough from disuse, he sounded entirely defeated.

Kurt felt as though he was going to be sick.

"Thought so", the man said. He used his grip on the slave's hair to shove him forward. The boy landed face-down in the dirt at the two men's feet.

"One more sound from you," he emphasised the word 'sound' with a kick to the boy's side "and I'll personally drag you out of this town and put a bullet in your face." He took another swing at the boy's ribs before rubbing the hand he had used to yank at the boys hair on his trousers, as if to clear it of filth.

The other slave trader had watched with a disinterested look on his face, but he now pulled a syringe from his trouser pocket and uncapped the needle.

"You know what? Screw the boss and screw the city regulations, he's only taking up space and I ain't gonna drag his ass around another two days. If you wanna get rid of him so badly, I'll give him this. We'll put him back in the transporter and hide him there 'til we get out of the city, whataya think?"

The second man grunted in approval.

Kurt was in front of them in a heartbeat.

They looked up at him in confusion. The shorter man quickly replaced the cap and pocketed the needle.

Kurt managed to take a calming breath and put on a falsely polite smile before saying "Excuse me, hello! I was wondering if I could take a look at that slave." His heart was racing.

The two traders exchanged baffled glances, but put on their pleasant salesperson masks and took a step backwards.

"Of course, Sir", said the shorter of the two men.

"But I gotta tell ya, he ain't no good merchandise, you might wanna have a look in the 93.75 section if your allowance is limited, kid." The taller one added, making Kurt wonder why he was talking a customer down from a possible purchase. The slave, who was lying on the dirty ground between the trader's and Kurt's feet, was very still.

"I assure you, my allowance isn't that limited. I was actually looking for a trader to help me and my friend out in the "NEW MERCHANDISE" section, but I couldn't find anyone."

"Our bad, Sir", the first man apologized, suddenly in a much friendlier tone now that he had smelled money. "We can head over there right now, if you'd like."

"Gladly, but first I want to hear about this one." Kurt said, with a look at the slave's direction.

"Very well, Sir." The man went to collect a stack of printed papers he had stored away on a desk nearby while the other one dragged the boy back onto his knees for Kurt to inspect. As the shorter man browsed through a few pages, Kurt looked down at the slave. The trader who was holding him up tilted his head back with unnecessary force so Kurt could see his face. Kurt's eyes immediately landed on the boy's black eye as well as the dark handprint that was clearly visible around his throat. The only clean parts on the slave's body were the tracks on which his tears had washed away dirt on his face. His lower lip was split open. The sickening feeling in Kurt's stomach kept growing stronger.

The boy didn't make eye contact, but Kurt could see that his eyes were a warm brown-green color. He seemed to be holding back tears and Kurt wondered if he looked frightening to the boy.

"Ah yeah," the other trader had found what he was looking for in his stack of papers "okay, so this one's 17 years old, had 6 previous owners, he's a diseased one. Blood work came back positive for Syphilis, as you could probably see, we were about to put him out of his misery."

Kurt frowned. "Syphilis?" He asked "That's easily treatable!"

"He ain't worth the antibiotics", said the second trader. "Anyway, if you want 'im you can have 'im for 20 bucks."

"Deal!" He said, probably a little too loudly, but Kurt didn't really care anymore, he wanted to get away from this place and these men as fast as he could.

"Very well then, now how about we head over to the "NEW" section?" The short man suggested and waved for the other man to drag the slave boy to his feet.

"Yes, yes, of course." Kurt nodded and tried not to look behind him at the boy who was struggling to stay upright as the tall trader half dragged, and half carried him behind Kurt.

Kurt followed the shorter man and his stack of paper. When they reached the "NEW" section he took the lead and directed them towards the girl Santana was still standing in front of.

The Latina seemed to have coaxed the girl into looking up and was affectionately running her thumb over the blonde's cheek. When she saw Kurt approach and shake his head at her, she quickly dropped her hand and the blonde lowered her gaze again.

"Is that the one you had your eyes on?" The short man asked and started going through his papers again.

"Yes, my friend and I would like to hear more about her." Kurt said, placing a hand on the small of Santana's back. The tall man who had been the slave boy caught up to them, Santana raised her eyebrows.

"Who's that?" She asked in a slightly confused tone.

"I made another purchase, don't worry it'll all fit into the car", he said in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone. Santana smiled a very fake smile for the traders and said "I'm sure it will."

The second trader sat the boy on the ground and joined his colleague to help him look for the blonde on their list, but kept an eye on the boy anyway. Kurt wondered if he imagined the hate in the man's eyes.

He kept smiling and waited and, after what seemed like ages, they finally found the girl on the list.

"Alright, 17 years old, virgin, flawless skin, naturally blonde hair, a bit retarded though, so she's not worth quite as much as a girl like her would usually go for. 10.000 bucks in total."

"She's not…" Santana started to protest.

"…worth that much!" Kurt cut in sharply, shooting Santana a look that made her fall silent instantly.

"8.000", Kurt offered.

"We can't give her away that cheap, 9.500," was the short man's counterproposal.

"9.000, take it or leave it," Kurt insisted.

"You drive a hard bargain, Sir", the short man chuckled. Then looked over his shoulder and sighed. "Alright, since you're taking that off our hands as well… she's yours for 9.000."

"Great." Kurt said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

The trader waved two of the guards over to them. "You two help the nice couple load their purchase in their car!" he ordered. "Let me walk with you so we can stop by the front desk to get the paperwork done."

One of the guards slung the boy off the ground and over his shoulder, as though he was used to carrying damaged slaves around on a daily basis, while the second guard took Santana's girl by the arm rather gently and guided her along behind her new mistress and Kurt.

The paperwork and payment was over and done with quickly. Two ladies who worked at front desk asked them whether or not they wanted their slaves tied up for the journey. Kurt answered yes, which made Santana frown at him in confusion, but Kurt knew it was suspicious if they didn't agree. Binding a slave's hands and feet was customary during travels, not tying them up was considered a safety risk.

Finally they left the sordid market behind and made their way to Kurt's Navigator, with the guards now carrying both their slaves over their shoulders.

Kurt opened the Navigator's trunk and the guards gently lowered the slaves into the car. Kurt had never been so thankful that his car was that big, at least both of them could sit up next to each other with their knees pulled up to their chins without hurting themselves.

He tipped the guards well and climbed in the driver's seat just as Santana slammed the passenger's door shut.

"I can't believe…" she sobbed, but Kurt interrupted her one last time.

"Not yet Santana, we have to get out of here first, please." He sped out the parking lot and onto the road home as fast as he thought he could go without being suspicious. He heard very soft snivelling sounds coming from Santana but he couldn't deal with it yet. After about three minutes of driving, he pulled into a deserted parking lot. There was no one around, no houses, no pedestrians, just an empty drive in cinema parking lot.

Kurt stumbled out of the car and threw up his lunch in a nearby bush.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When he felt empty, he sat down on the ground for a moment to catch his breath. He didn't notice Santana walk up behind him, but she was holding out her hand for him, her eyes looked slightly puffy. Kurt let her pull him to his feet and hugged her close.

"I never thought they would treat them like this", he whispered. He may have been to a couple of slave markets before, but his father must have found some way to shield him from this kind of misery.

"What happened to him?" Santana asked, looking back at the car.

"I don't know", Kurt answered honestly, he took a deep breath. "Come on, I don't want to leave them alone." He unlocked the trunk and opened the boot lid. The two slaves sat in the exact same position they had been left in earlier.

"Are we at your home now, Mistress?" The blonde girl asked Santana. Santana smiled softly at her and shook her head. Kurt handed her the Swiss army knife he had brought along specifically for this purpose.

"No, we'll just cut off that rope and get you more comfortable, okay?" The blonde nodded and stuck out her hands and feet towards Santana to grant her easy access to her bound limbs.

"Good girl!" Santana praised her. She cut through the rope, careful not to hurt the girl.

The boy had been observing the scene in front of him warily, but at the praise Santana gave the girl he carefully extended his feet and arms a little as if to test if the same reaction would be extended to him. While Santana had been caught up in talking to her slave Kurt had been observing him carefully and took the knife from Santana.

"Well done." He said, placing a careful hand on the boy's tightly bound wrists. "Now I need you to hold still so I won't accidentally hurt you, alright?" The boy nodded, but his mouth was set in a tense line as if he was waiting for Kurt to cut his wrists. The rope gave easily enough and Kurt untangled the rest of it from the boy's wrists.

"Very good." He contemplated what to say next for a moment as he tenderly placed a hand above the boy's bound ankles.

"Thank you, Master."

Kurt looked up startled, making the boy shrink back in fear.

"My name is Kurt, there's no need to call me Master." He assured the boy as he cut the rope around his ankles. "What's your name?"

The boy looked confused for a moment, but promptly answered.

"Blaine, Sir." Kurt shook his head, trying to smile in a reassuring way.

"There's no need to call me Sir either, Blaine, just Kurt will be fine."

"I'm Brittany!" came a cheery voice from their left. The girl seemed to have gotten over her fear rather quickly and was looking rather happy as Santana wrapped her up in one of the blankets Kurt kept on his back seat.

"It's very nice to meet you, Brittany. I'm Kurt." He replied, smiling at her, which seemed to make her even happier. He nodded to the front of the car as an indicator that Santana should go ahead and take Brittany to sit in the backseat, leaving him and Blaine in an illusion of privacy.

Kurt reached for the second blanket and unfolded it, careful not to startle the slave.

"Here, you must be freezing." He said and held the blanket out for the almost naked boy to take. The boy… _Blaine,_ shook his head violently making Kurt retract his arms in surprise.

"Please, Sir, I'm filthy, I don't want to damage your property, this blanket is too nice, I don't want to dirty it. Please." He was begging now and Kurt swallowed hard; Blaine thought he would be punished for getting a little dirt on a blanket.

Kurt's slightly prolonged silence made Blaine panic, he leapt out of the car and onto his knees, face contorting in pain as he landed in front of Kurt's feet. "Please, I'm sorry, I'm so grateful you saved me, I'm sorry you had to waste money on something as useless as me. Please, I don't know how to repay you, I…"

"No," Kurt cut him off and the other boy fell silent immediately.

Kurt crouched down making Blaine shrink further to the ground in an effort to lower himself beneath Kurt's level, just as every slave was taught to do when in the presence of their master.

"Blaine, please try to look at me," Kurt said. Blaine's eyes shot up immediately. "Thank you", Kurt said calmly. "I want you to listen to me, please." Blaine nodded, his eyes wide with fear.

"You don't have to repay me, I bought you because I had to…I _wanted_ to help you and I will, if you'll let me. I know you're scared, and you don't know me so you don't have any reason to trust me, but I still want to tell you that I won't hurt you. I'd like you to sit back down in the trunk for now and take the blanket, because it's cold out here, but I won't be mad if you really don't want it."

Blaine looked bewildered as Kurt held out the blanket once more, but then gingerly reached out for it with one hand. Kurt could see his hand shaking and wasn't sure whether it was from the cold or from fear.

Kurt frowned as the other boy tried to lift his arms far enough to wrap the blanket around himself and failed, hissing in pain. He walked around him to take a look at his back. He gasped at the angry red welts that were scattered all over his back. How had he not seen them before?

He quickly wrapped the blanket around Blaine's shoulders. This would just be another note on the long list of things that had to be treated. He closed his eyes in dread as he realized something.

"Santana?" Kurt called to the front of the car, startling the slave boy.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I make a phone call before we leave?"

"It's fine, go ahead!" Santana called back.

"Would you get up and sit with me?" He asked Blaine gently. Blaine was on his feet before Kurt had even finished the question. Kurt guided him to sit on the edge of the trunk's platform with his feet dangling down before sitting down next to him, leaving about a foot between them, so as not to crowd Blaine.

"I have to call my dad", Kurt explained, unlocking his cell phone screen. The other boy nodded, his gaze lowered again, this time to the blanket. Blaine was running his fingers over a small section at the edge of the blanket in wonder, as if he couldn't believe he was allowed to touch something so soft.

Kurt took a deep breath before hitting the dial button and holding the phone to his ear.

"Hello?", a slightly gruff voice answered from the other end. The volume setting on his phone wasn't set very high, but Kurt was sure that Blaine would be able to hear almost everything.

"Dad,… hi!" Kurt's voice almost broke, he was so relieved to hear his father's voice.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Burt asked sounding instantly concerned. "Are you hurt?"

"No, no don't worry, I'm okay. I just…"

"Spit it out Kurt, you're scaring me, tell me what's wrong."

"I bought a slave. I had to! They were gonna kill him!" Kurt blurted out.

A sigh from the other end and a light rustling noise told Kurt that his father had taken his cap off to massage his scalp. "I just knew this would happen, I knew the moment you told me you were going to the market with that girl Santana."

"What? How?" Kurt was frowning in confusion, still waiting for an outburst that wouldn't come.

Burt sighed again "You're just like your mother, that's how, buddy. Is he or she hurt?"

Kurt looked over to Blaine and tried to list all his injuries in his head. He couldn't remember all of them and probably didn't even know about many more.

"He's really hurt", he whispered.

"Bring him home, kiddo, I'll call the doctor and ask him if he can come by and look at him later, alright?"

Kurt sobbed in relief "Thank you, dad."

"Now you listen to me, Kurt, you sound really upset, I don't want you driving like this. Santana has a license, right?" Kurt made an affirming sound. "Okay good, you let her drive you and that kid here and I'll take her home from here, alright?"

"Yeah," Kurt nodded, wiping at his cheeks, "I will, we'll be home in 10 minutes or so."

"Good, I'll see you then. Take care."

"I love you, dad."

"You too, buddy!"

Kurt took a deep breath as he hung up, he turned towards Blaine again. The other boy had stopped running his fingers over the blanket and was looking quietly at his feet.

"Come on," he sighed, standing up. "Let's go get in the car." Blaine nodded and pulled his knees up to his chest, leaning back against the back of the trunk.

"Oh, erm… no, Blaine, I want you to sit in the car, okay?" Kurt explained.

"I'm sorry." Blaine didn't hesitate to get out of the trunk for a second, but he looked a little confused at Kurt's request.

He started swaying precariously after taking a step towards the car door. Kurt reached out to steady him by his upper arm, which made Blaine freeze for a second, but with Kurt's support he made it to the backseat where Kurt sat him down next to Brittany.

Brittany immediately reached out and helped him put on his seatbelt. Kurt couldn't help but notice that Blaine didn't flinch when Brittany touched him, he was grateful for that.

"Santana?" He asked the girl who was still standing next to Brittany's open car door. "Do you mind driving us home? My dad will take you and Brittany to your house."

"Sure," Santana said, giving Brittany's cheek one last affectionate stroke before she closed the back door and opened the one at the driver's seat. Kurt handed her the keys and sank into the passenger's seat with a sigh. He was so glad his dad was going to help him.

He looked back at Blaine through the side mirror as they drove. Brittany seemed to have taken a shine to him and was whispering softly to him. Kurt couldn't make out much of what she said and he didn't really want to eavesdrop on them, but whatever she was saying seemed to relax Blaine a little.

When Santana parked the car in front of the Hudson- Hummel residence, the front door swung open to reveal a worried looking Burt Hummel, who rushed out to pull his son into a hug. Santana told Brittany to stay in her seat as she got out of the car and joined father and son on the front lawn.

Kurt let go of his father reluctantly just to find his arms full of Santana. "Thank you, Kurt, take good care of him!"

"Don't worry, it'll just give you premature wrinkles", he answered, earning himself a giggle. Santana released him and got into the vacated passenger's seat.

Kurt opened the door next to Blaine's seat. The other boy had been watching them, no doubt, but his gaze was now lowered respectfully once more. Kurt carefully guided him out of the car by his upper arm once more.

"Blaine", Kurt addressed him softly "This is my dad." Blaine looked up for a brief moment at Burt before looking down again. Kurt was pretty sure that his hand on Blaine's arm was the only thing keeping Blaine from dropping to his knees in front of Burt. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir!" He said instead.

"It's good to meet you too, kid, I'm glad you're here." Burt said in a warm tone. He smiled at his dad gratefully.

"Why don't you help him get cleaned up a little while I drive Santana and her new friend home?" Burt suggested. Kurt nodded and watched his dad climb into the driver's seat. He quickly guided Blaine into the house, suddenly painfully aware that the boy wasn't wearing any shoes; Blaine had to be freezing. Kurt closed the front door behind them, glad to escape from the cruel world outside.

As soon as he released his careful grip on Blaine's arm the slave boy dropped to his hands and knees , the blanket falling off his back.

"What … what are you doing?" Kurt asked, he could see the muscles in Blaine's bony back stiffen at the question. He didn't need to see the dread in Blaine's face to know that the other boy thought he had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to walk inside." Blaine said, his voice shaky.

"Oh, yes, absolutely", Kurt said. He hadn't even considered that some slave owners might insist on something so ridiculous. He squatted down next to Blaine. "Of course you can walk, you don't ever have to crawl or kneel here, okay?" He offered his hands to help Blaine to his feet again, but Blaine just looked at them uncomprehendingly before struggling to his feet again.

"Come to the bathroom with me, I'll draw a bath." Kurt said leading the boy by his side to the bathroom. He wasn't touching him, but he let his hands hover over Blaine's arms in case he had to catch him. Blaine stumbled after only two steps. Kurt caught him easily, not only since he had almost expected it, but also because Blaine was so light. He almost had to drag the other boy into the bathroom since all of his strength seemed to have left him. At the close proximity Kurt suddenly became aware of the other boy's overpowering smell, he mustn't have been in contact with water for days, if not weeks.

Inside the bathroom he sat Blaine down on a chair. He picked a very mild bubble bath that he hoped wouldn't aggravate the whipping marks and Blaine's other injuries and proceeded to fill the bath with warm water.

The bath didn't foam as much as most bubble baths did, but he hoped the bubbles would give Blaine some privacy since Kurt didn't plan to leave him alone in the bathroom. The other boy looked as though he might faint at any second and Kurt really didn't want to return to a corpse floating in his tub.

Once he was satisfied with the temperature and volume he walked over to Blaine, helping him to his feet. "Come on, your bath is ready."

Blaine looked bewildered. "This is for me?" He asked as Kurt helped him walk towards the tub.

Kurt nodded. They stopped in front of the tub. "You might want to take that off," Kurt suggested, pointing at the dirty boxers. Blaine pulled them down and let them drop to the floor without a moment's hesitation. Kurt made a mental note to watch his tone in the future, since everything he had suggested to the other boy so far had been taken as a direct order.

He helped Blaine step into the tub, keeping him from slipping on the wet surface and carefully set him down, watching him closely to see if the soapy water was hurting him. All he saw was amazement as the water covered the boy to his neck.

"Is the temperature alright? It's not too hot, is it? Do you want out?", Kurt asked in a panic, ready to pull Blaine out if the water was hurting him, but the slave boy shook his head violently.

"No, it's just", he let out a quiet sob "I'm sorry, I just… it's warm." Blaine said as if there had been some mistake. He hid his face in his wet hands.

"Of course it is, it's a bath", Kurt said frowning.

"I haven't been allowed warm water since I was 12", Blaine whispered looking up at Kurt with tearful eyes. "Thank you!"

Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and putting a smile on his face "Well you can have as much of it as you want now." He promised, his tone coming out far too cheery, but Blaine's eyes lit up like a little kids on Christmas morning. Kurt reached into a cupboard for a new bath sponge. He squeezed shower gel on it and set down on the edge of the tub, handing it to Blaine. The boy practically leeched on to it and enthusiastically started scrubbing at his chest as though he wanted to make the most of the sponge as long as he had access to it.

"We're in no hurry", Kurt assured him "you have all the time you want." His word's only slowed the other boy down marginally as he scrubbed at his arms, neck and face.

Kurt wandered if maybe he should give him more privacy, it wasn't as though he got a kick out of watching the other boy though, he was just worried. He let his eyes wander around the room as Blaine busied himself cleaning his legs and other parts Kurt didn't want to think about at this moment.

When Blaine's rapid movement's ceased, he allowed himself to look back into the tub. The water had turned a murky brownish grey color and Blaine was currently struggling to reach his back. Kurt assumed the pain from the welts on his back was preventing him from bending his arms enough.

"How about we pour some new water and I'll help you with your back?" Kurt offered, startling Blaine. The slave looked down at the water and nodded. Kurt reached to the other end of the tub and turned the wheel that opened the drain before turning on the water faucet again. New warm water poured into the tub, mixing with the dirty water. After two minutes or so the water looked mostly clear again. Blaine handed him the sponge that he had wrung out carefully so Kurt wouldn't have to touch his dirty sponge.

"Lean forward a little, please?"

Blaine obeyed immediately, leaning forward onto his up-pulled knees, exposing his entire back.

Kurt laid a steadying hand on Blaine's shoulder and started by dragging the sponge over the back of his neck gently and slowly worked his way down his back and shoulders. Most of the blood and grime had been flushed away by Blaine's prolonged stay in the tub, but Kurt rinsed the remaining dirt away gently. He could feel Blaine gradually relax under his ministrations.

When he was done he rinsed out the sponge once more and laid it down on the edge of the tub.

"Now all that's left is your hair, why don't you lean back and get it wet so I can work some shampoo in?", Kurt suggested. Blaine delayed the execution of this request longer than he ever had with anything Kurt had asked so far, but finally lowered his head into the water.

Kurt didn't miss the way he held on to the edges of the tub with both hands so hard his knuckles turned white. He poured a generous amount of shampoo on his hand when Blaine sat back up.

"Tilt your head back for me, please. I don't want to get any shampoo in your eyes." Blaine did as he was told, looking wary.

With a deep breath, Kurt started running his fingers over the other boy's scalp, trying not to pull at the knots in his hair. After a little while shampoo foam turned the same brownish grey as the bathwater had earlier. Kurt sighed.

"When was the last time you had a bath or shower?" He asked Blaine, not entirely sure whether or not he really wanted to hear the answer.

"I'm not sure, what day is it?" Blaine asked carefully.

"The 29th." Kurt told him.

Blaine swallowed hard "Almost three weeks ago, Si.. Kurt." He caught himself and flinched at his slip up. "I'm sorry."

"It's no problem at all." Kurt assured him.

"Now, I need you to lean back so your hair is in the water. I'll rinse it out for you."

Blaine did as he was told, but just as Kurt reached for his hair in the water, he panicked.

"Please NO!" He yelped, losing his grip on the edge of the tub, his body slipping from the bottom of the tub, causing him to fall backwards.

It was all Kurt could do to place his hand between the back of Blaine's head and the tub's wall to keep Blaine from hitting it. He couldn't prevent the boy's face from slipping under the surface though. Blaine's limbs flailed in his panic, splashing water everywhere. Kurt grabbed a hold on him under his arms and pulled him out over the water's surface. He kept his hold to prevent Blaine from slipping under again, while the other boy was still panicking.

"Shh, you're okay, I've got you." He dabbed Blaine's face with towel using one hand and kept him in a sitting position with his other arm, all the while mumbling what he hoped to be comforting reassurances. The soapy water had to sting in his eyes, because after a few deep breaths Blaine took a hold of the towel and rubbed at his eyes and face furiously.

"I'm sorry." He cried.

"It's okay, you were just scared, I understand." Kurt rubbed Blaine's upper arm in an attempt to sooth him.

"Did you get the shampoo out of your eyes?" He asked to distract Blaine from his obvious fear.

Blaine nodded, handing the towel back to Kurt.

Kurt reached for the shower head and held it out for Blaine to inspect. "How about we try and rinse your hair with this? All you have to do is tilt your head back, I promise I won't hurt you, okay?"

The boy in the tub eyed the showerhead carefully and gave his nod of consent. "Good." Kurt said, smiling in a way he hoped was reassuring.

Blaine tilted his head back and allowed Kurt to run the warm water over his head.

"Do you mind if we try this again? I'd like to put some conditioner in your hair, that way it'll be easier to comb it later, but we don't have to do that if you're still too shaken." Kurt hoped he had phrased this in a way that actually let Blaine know he could pick between the two options. Blaine nodded, although it was tentative at best.

This time it was easier to drag his fingers through Blaine's curly hair and Kurt made a bigger effort to massage the other boy's skull in a pleasant way. He seemed to be succeeding, if the small sigh that escaped Blaine's lips was any indicator. When he was done, he reached for the showerhead once more.

"Tilt your head back for me again, please?" Kurt asked and Blaine looked over his shoulder to make sure Kurt was actually planning to use the showerhead.

Kurt kept a hand on his forehead to prevent the soapy water to wash into Blaine's eyes and then moved on to gently rinsing the rest of the conditioner out of Blaine's hair.

"There you go, all cleaned up. You did very well, thank you!" He praised after he had finished. "Now let's get you out of this tub. The water has to be getting cold by now."

Blaine let Kurt help him step out of the shower and allowed himself to be wrapped up in a fluffy white bathrobe before Kurt sat him back onto the chair he had occupied earlier.

"Wait here for a moment. I'll go and find some clothes for you." Kurt told him.

"Clothes?", Blaine whispered to himself.

His eyes widened almost comically when Kurt came back with warm looking flannel pajamas for him a minute later.

Kurt put the clothes down on the sink and looked Blaine over. The boy's hair still needed combing and his beard, which was at least a few days old really needed proper trimming, but he wasn't sure if he should propose either. Combing the messy tangled curls would probably hurt and his cheeks already looked as if his beard had been shaved imprecisely with a blunt razor, which it probably had been. He really didn't want to cause the slave any more pain than he was probably in already. Blaine had looked up slightly when he had put the clothes down, his eyes were fixed on them and he looked so hopeful.

"My dad just got back", Kurt told him. "He called Doctor Holland, she'll be here to examine you soon." Blaine's eyes shot up, Kurt could tell he was confused. "She's really nice, I promise. " Blaine was looking at the floor again. "Thank you, Ma… Si… Kurt", he flinched, looking longingly at the clothes.

"How about you put …" Kurt was about to suggest putting on the pajamas, when his eyes caught on Blaine's legs that had been left exposed by the robe from the knees down.

"Can I have a look at your knees?" He asked. Blaine immediately raised the bathrobe's hem to the middle of his thighs. Kurt knelt down on the tiles in front of him to have a closer look.

The area above both of Blaine's knees was swollen to a frightening size. Kurt frowned, looking up at Blaine. "How long have they been like this?" Kurt asked.

Blaine shook his head "I don't know. A while, I don't know what's wrong with them, I'm scared, I'm sorry!" Kurt could see tears threatening to spill down the other boy's cheeks.

"Do they hurt?" He asked, because they sure looked painful. Blaine nodded.

"Okay, don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing. We'll ask the doctor to have a look at them, alright?" There was another nod from the slave boy.

"Now, how about you put on your pajamas, we'll get you some clothes of your own soon, but for now I hope you're okay with borrowing mine." Blaine's eyes widened.

"Yours?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, I promised they've been freshly washed and pressed", Kurt said trying to sound nonchalant.

Blaine looked puzzled but reached for the warm, soft pajama shirt anyway. Kurt turned his back and busied himself looking for something in the cupboard. When Kurt turned back around, toothbrush in hand, Blaine had managed to put on his pajamas and fold the robe neatly. He looked so small in the blue plaid clothes that Kurt wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and give him cookies and milk.

"Here", he held the new toothbrush out for Blaine to take. Blaine just stared at it. "You know how to use this right?" Kurt asked uncertainly.

"This toothbrush… it's for me?" Blaine asked cautiously.

"Erm… yeah, it's yours" Kurt said hesitantly "here, let's put your name on it?" He opened the mirrored cupboard above the sink and pulled out a sharpie that the Hummel-Hudson's used for exactly this purpose. He wrote "BLAINE" on the handle and held it out for Blaine to read.

"How's that?" Kurt asked, smiling at Blaine's blissful expression as he took the brush from Kurt.

"Thank you!" Blaine gasped, holding the brush as if it was made of glass.

Kurt decided not to ask why this was so precious to Blaine. He vaguely remembered one of his father's slaves telling him that his traders had only given him a small paper cup of mouthwash a day, because running water was too expensive to acquire for slaves of a travelling market. He handed Blaine the toothpaste when the other boy was about to shove the brush in his mouth with only water on it and stepped away to give Blaine a little privacy.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Kurt?"

Kurt opened the door to let his father in. Blaine ceased brushing his teeth and seemed unsure of what to do. "Keep going, kid." Burt told him, Blaine did.

"Doctor Holland's here, she's waiting in the kitchen." Burt said. "You two join us when you're done?"

Kurt looked back over his shoulder to see how Blaine was doing. "We'll be out in a minute, dad."

Burt nodded approvingly and closed the bathroom door behind him as he left.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A few minutes later Kurt guided Blaine into the kitchen, where Burt and Dr. Holland were waiting for them at the table. Kurt had met Dr. Holland on multiple occasions, mainly whenever Burt had brought a new slave home. She was a nice lady in her early 40's, her blonde hair was always pulled into a loose bun and she was always friendly. Not just to Kurt and his family, but to the slaves as well in just the same way. Although she had never explicitly expressed her opinion on slavery to Kurt, he was certain she shared his belief. Burt Hummel would never let someone who didn't and was therefore a potential danger near his slaves.

The doctor had set up a portable examination table next to the kitchen table. When she noticed them she got up to greet them.

"Hello Kurt, good to see you again", she shook his hand before turning to the boy who was almost hiding behind Kurt.

"And you must be Blaine, hi, it's good to meet you. I'm Dr. Holland." Her smile was warm. "Now Burt here tells me that you've been hurt, so if you would like me to, I'd like to have a look at you. Would that be alright with you?" She asked Blaine, Kurt noticed that the other boy didn't seem nearly as frightened of her as he had been when Kurt had first mentioned a doctor. Kurt had always thought she had a talent of putting people at ease.

Blaine nodded in answer of her question. "Would you sit down on my table for me?" She offered her hand to help him, but he didn't take it, choosing instead to crawl onto the exam table on his own.

"Very good! Thank you, Blaine." The doctor praised. "Would you like to do this examination alone or would you like Kurt and Burt to stay?" She asked. Blaine bit his lip. Kurt could tell he was uncertain whether he actually had a choice here. He looked towards Burt and then at Kurt pleadingly. Kurt wasn't sure how to interpret this, but apparently Burt did.

"I'll just wait in the living room" the older Hummel man said, he gently placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder as he passed him and left the kitchen.

"Now, I'm going to examine you, if that's alright with you Blaine, but I'd like to take care of anything that's causing you immediate pain first. I can see you have a black eye, but that's already healing. Not much we can do about that right now, but I will write you a prescription for a salve that'll help the bruising heal faster. Your lip doesn't need to be stitched, we'll disinfect it and put some ointment on it later and then cover it with a little Vaseline, so you can eat without worrying about getting it infected. Can you tell me if anything else is hurting you?" Blaine looked from her to Kurt in distress, his eyes finally settling on Kurt again. "Or maybe Kurt can help us out a little?" She asked.

"Oh erm… yeah, sure", Kurt said, startled to be addressed. He thought for a moment, not sure where to start. "There are whip marks on his back, those must be really painful." He began. The doctor nodded and turned back to Blaine. "Would it be okay if I looked at those?" She asked.

"Of course, Madam", Blaine seemed to have found his voice again and unbuttoned his pajama top immediately.

"Please lay down on your stomach for me." The doctor instructed him when he was done, Blaine obeyed.

Dr. Holland examined the welts and cuts for a while before telling the boys that none of them are infected yet. "I'll have to clean the cuts before I can apply ointment and bandages, it will probably sting and hurt. Would you like Kurt to hold your hand, Blaine?" She asked.

Blaine didn't react. Kurt couldn't see his face from where he was still standing near the door, but he could see the boy tense. Making up his own mind Kurt pulled up a chair next to the exam table so he was seated at the level of Blaine's head. He hoped it was the right decision, but Blaine hadn't even asked him for toothpaste, Kurt suspected he would probably not ask for this even if he wanted it.

Kurt held out his hand for Blaine, the other boy looked at it in disbelief at first, but when Dr. Holland started dabbing Blaine's first cut with antiseptic he latched onto it, biting his lip as he waited for Kurt's reaction. Kurt just smiled at him encouragingly and brought his other hand up to caress the back of Blaine's hand.

Blaine relaxed a little, Kurt could tell that the antiseptic was hurting him, but the slave boy looked almost at ease now. Kurt continued to run his thumb softly over Blaine's hand as the other boy closed his eyes, letting the doctor work.

When she was done she asked Blaine to sit up so she could have a look at the rest of his torso. She listened to his lungs and his heart and wrote up another ointment for the bruises on his torso in her prescription pad. She patted down his ribcage and his arms, feeling for cracked and broken bones.

"Have you had your ribs broken before?" She asked Blaine. The boy nodded.

"Kurt, would you mind bringing Blaine by my office sometime this week? I'd like to take an x-ray of his chest and one of his left upper arm to see if they've healed well enough on their own." Kurt agreed as the doctor asked Blaine if he was wearing underwear and Kurt was glad he had given him a pair of his own boxers earlier.

Blaine removed his pajama pants when Dr. Holland asked him to and sat back down, his legs dangling from the examination table. He bit his lip when a whimper escaped them.

"What's wrong, dear?" Dr. Holland asked in concern, looking up from where she was exchanging the surgical gloves that had been stained slightly by the cuts on Blaine's back for new ones.

"I'm sorry, Madam," Blaine apologized, "Please, what's wrong with my legs?" Kurt could see the boy shaking slightly.

Dr. Holland put on her second glove and sat down on a second chair next to Kurt's, right in front of Blaine's dangling legs. She carefully prodded the swollen knee and then gently laid her hand on Blaine's lower leg.

"It's called prepatellar bursitis, but it's more commonly known as slave's knee. It's caused by kneeling for extended periods of time. It doesn't seem infected, so for now I just want you to stay off your knees. If the swelling hasn't gone down in a week I'll have a look at it again and we'll discuss it further, but you'll be alright, I promise."

Blaine visibly relaxed at her words and even gave her a smile.

"Dr. Holland, the traders said that Blaine had been diagnosed with syphilis", Kurt had almost forgotten the reason Blaine had been in the situation he found him in, because his visible injuries overshadowed everything in Kurt's mind. Blaine's face had gone pale.

The doctor frowned and nodded. "Would you step outside for the rest of this examination, Kurt?" She asked. "I'll give you an update afterwards, I promise." Kurt nodded and stepped outside, but not before giving Blaine a reassuring smile.

Author's note: The condition is actually better known as "Housemaid's knee", but I figured in this particular alternate universe housemaids don't really exist, people have slaves for that.


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the alerts and the reviews. It really makes my day!**

**I've been asked how this fic came to be, so I thought I'd just say it here. It was written for a prompt on the glee-kink/glee-angst meme. So yeah, enjoy:**

Chapter 4

Kurt closed the kitchen door behind him and joined his father in the living room. Burt had turned on the television, but Kurt could tell he wasn't paying attention to the muted ice hockey game. He dropped down on the couch next to his dad and let his head fall on the older man's shoulder.

"How's it going in there?" Burt asked quietly, draping his arm around Kurt's shoulder.

"I don't know. She sent me out. I'm guessing it's probably to examine him in … to examine his…" Kurt felt himself blush from embarrassment "his private areas." He continued quickly. "There are bruises and whip marks everywhere and he's so thin, dad, he looks like he's about to collapse any minute."

"Is that why you got him?" Burt frowned at his son. Kurt shook his head.

"Someone gave him syphilis, they were gonna kill him right there. They had him on the ground and" Kurt paused, taking a deep breath, he felt sick "and one of them was going to stick a needle in him. I had to get him, dad." His voice broke, the image was too fresh and too vivid in his mind. "Please don't be mad at me."

Burt's arm tightened around Kurt pulling him in closer.

"You did good, son." He whispered, pressing a kiss on the top of Kurt's head. "We'll keep him here for now, set up the guest room for him."

Kurt sighed in relief. He hadn't doubted that his father would allow him to keep Blaine, but he had been worried that his father would insist on sending Blaine to the garage, where the other slaves who were currently in the Hudson-Hummel's possession lived. Burt had converted the second story of the building into a huge apartment that the slaves shared. Most of them had their own rooms and they all shared a big bathroom and a small kitchen. Carole and Burt brought groceries and other things by twice a week so they could look after themselves and be at peace there.

While Kurt liked the other slaves and trusted them, he felt personally responsible for Blaine and wanted to keep him close. He wanted to be the one to take care of Blaine, to make sure that he would get better.

"Kurt, would you mind coming back in for a bit?" Doctor Holland called from the kitchen 5 minutes later. He was up in a flash, leaving his dad on the couch.

Blaine had drawn his knees up to his chest (Kurt wondered if he position was hurting him) and had his face buried in the palms of his hand. "What's going on?" He asked the doctor urgently.

She sighed, looking over at Blaine with a pained expression on her face. "I'm afraid Blaine isn't very fond of needles. I have to draw some blood to test for sexually transmitted infections again." She added at Kurt's confused look "Maybe you could try to calm him down a bit, I don't want to have to sedate him."

Kurt nodded gravely, pulling up a chair in front of Blaine once more and sat down.

"Blaine?" his voice was soft enough not to startle the other boy. "Look at me, please?" Blaine's hands dropped immediately, revealing his pale face and tear streaked cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't… I'm…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for", Kurt assured him. "Did Dr. Holland explain what the needle is for?" He asked. Blaine nodded, his eyes darting towards the doctor uncertainly.

"I promise this is not a trick or something, this is just so you can get better. We need to see how long you've been infected with this STD, so the doctor can treat you properly. The needle is going to sting, but it'll be over fast and then you can put your clothes back on and we can get you something to eat. Does that sound okay?" Blaine's eyes fixed on him intently as he nodded.

"You've done very well so far." Kurt praised, he extended his hand to Blaine "How about you take my hand and look at me while Doctor Holland draws some blood from your…arm?" He asked looking at the doctor who nodded in response.

Blaine looked uncertain, but he tentatively inched his hand towards Kurt's until their palms were touching, just barely. Kurt wrapped his fingers around Blaine's hand slowly, giving the other boy plenty of time to pull away.

"You know, when I had to get shots when I was little my dad always used to tell me about…"

Blaine yelped and tore his hand from Kurt's with so much force that it almost sent him flying off the other end of the exam table when Doctor Holland swabbed his arm with disinfectant.

"Please! No! Oh god, please don't!" Fresh tears were spilling down his cheeks. He curled up into a fetal position on the table as if to shield himself from blows that wouldn't come. Kurt's heart broke for him and he exchanged a helpless glance with Doctor Holland.

An idea shot through his mind and on a whim Kurt rolled up his sleeve, hoping with all his heart that this would work.

"Doctor Holland? Would you mind drawing a vial of my blood as well?" Kurt asked. Doctor Holland frowned for a moment before catching on.

"Of course, no problem at all." She said. "How about you sit down on the table?"

Kurt did as she told him, sitting in a way that gave Blaine a clear few at his outstretched arm. The boy met his glance, his eyes wide. "Would you like to watch?" Kurt asked conversationally "It's not that bad, I swear. I've had blood drawn before, it's a little unpleasant, but I promise it won't be too bad."

"The sling is used to make the vein bulge so the doctor can see where to put the needle." He explained. He wasn't sure whether that was really the reason, but he decided that it would probably be best to give Blaine a running commentary of what was happening, so he could see that they weren't going to harm him.

"The swab is to disinfect the area where the needle's going to go in." Kurt said, his eyes fixed on Blaine while Blaine's where fixed on Kurt's arm.

Kurt didn't as much feel the needle going in as he could see it on Blaine's face. The boy's eyes were wide in horror. That is, until he looked up at Kurt's calm face. Kurt smiled at him reassuringly "It doesn't really hurt, I promise. " The look on Blaine's face was unreadable. He averted his gaze back to Kurt's arm and uncurled from his position slightly to get a better look, watching the vial fill with Kurt's blood. When it was full enough the doctor removed the needle and immediately pressed a piece of gauze to the place it had been in. Kurt took a hold of it and pressed down hard. "This is so the wound doesn't keep bleeding. It'll stop in a minute." Kurt explained.

"Si-Kurt… I think I can do … that." Blaine whispered.

"Really?" Kurt asked smiling brightly when Blaine nodded carefully.

And he did. After the doctor had replaced Kurt's gauze with a band aid a few minutes later Blaine was sitting on the edge of the exam table once more, holding his arm out bravely.

He didn't watch the doctor draw his blood though, his eyes were fixed on Kurt who told him about how his dad used to distract him when he had to get shots as a little boy. Kurt wasn't sure whether or not Blaine was actually listening to his story, but it didn't matter because the boy was holding onto his hand and looking at him as though Kurt had hung the moon in the sky for him.

**Author's note: You can find me on tumblr under captainpihkal dot tumblr dot com :)**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I will call you in a few days when I get the result of Blaine's blood work and we'll make an appointment for his x-rays and syphilis shots. I'd like to talk to you outside for a bit, Kurt? If you'll excuse us for a minute, Blaine?"

Kurt allowed himself to be led out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Burt had left the room at some point, so it was empty. Dr. Holland took a seat on the sofa chair, while Kurt sat down on the couch.

"Now, Kurt, I know this is an unpleasant topic, but I'm sure you're aware of what Blaine's previous owners used him for." The doctor looked around and on second thought added "Would you like your father to be here for this conversation?"

Kurt shook his head grimly, he really didn't. His eyes darted to the kitchen door that separated them from Blaine, he hoped their absence didn't frighten the boy.

"I sent you out earlier so I could examine him in private and", she sighed, rubbing her forehead, her usual smile had vanished from her face. Somehow Kurt was glad that this wasn't easy for the doctor either. "I found a lot of scarring to his anal tissue, some of it rather old as far as I could tell. That indicates that he has been raped repeatedly over a long period of time. You've seen the way he reacts when someone tries to touch him. Kurt", she looked at him very earnestly "I know you're a good kid and you didn't buy him to use him or hurt him, but that boy, he's very fragile and people have hurt him … a lot." Kurt nodded grimly. "You'll have to be really careful and patient with him, if you want him to get well."

"I do, I will be." He said seriously. Doctor Holland leaned against the back of the chair, nodding as if she was relieved about his answer.

"I found a chancre on him. That's an open sore that usually appears in the first stage of syphilis." She explained "Given the situation, it's the best possible scenario, really. It means that the disease is easily curable. I'm going to run his blood and test for other diseases as well so we can be sure there isn't more; but if there isn't I'll give him a shot of penicillin when you come to my office next week and that should be it for the syphilis." She sighed. "There will be a follow up exam later, but I will tell you all about that when you come by next week. I think you've had enough to stomach for one day. We'll decide what to do about his knees then as well."

At that Kurt frowned "I thought they'll heal on their own?"

"Maybe, but if they don't we'll have to drain them and treat them, but right now this kind of treatment would interfere with his STD treatment, so for now, just keep him off his knees."

Kurt buried his face in his hands and ran them over his face, there was just too much to absorb and process. The doctor smiled at him sympathetically. "It's gonna be okay." She whispered softly.

"Do you have any immediate questions?" Doctor Holland asked. He thought hard, but nothing came to mind. "If something comes up later, your dad has my number, you can call me any time, I don't mind."

"Thank you." He was about to tell her he didn't have any questions when his stomach growled which made him think of something important, that he had completely forgotten about. "He's so thin, do you think he's up for regular food?"

The doctor shook her head and provided him with a list of food that Blaine could stomach before handing him the prescription she had written up for Blaine, so Kurt could pick it up at the pharmacy.

"I'm afraid I have to get going, I have another patient waiting for me." She told him. Kurt nodded and got up to shake her hand.

"Thank you so much for coming by." Kurt said not entirely sure how to express his gratitude sufficiently, but the doctor seemed to understand anyway.

The doctor left after saying a brief goodbye to Burt and Blaine. She packed up her examination table in a hurry leaving Blaine standing in the centre of the kitchen in only Kurt's underwear.

"Erm… you can put on your pajamas again, if you want, it's a little cold in here," Kurt said and Blaine immediately did as he told him, looking relieved to be allowed to cover himself again. Kurt looked down at the boy's bare feet. "Sit down on a chair when you're done, I'll be right back." He told Blaine.

A minute later he returned with a thick pair of socks he hoped would fit the other boy. As he had been told, Blaine was sitting on one of the kitchen chair's waiting for Kurt.

"Are your feet cold?" Kurt asked him. Blaine looked up at him carefully as if trying to assess whether this was a trick question. Kurt held out the socks for him, smiling when Blaine took them from him. His smile faded when Blaine winced as he bent down to place them on his bare feet.

"Whoa whoa whoa, careful!" Blaine shot back up to a sitting position, startled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think", Kurt crouched down to the floor in front of Blaine's chair "that has to hurt your back. Here give me the socks."

He could have slapped himself for his phrasing when he saw the sad, longing look Blaine gave the socks before handing them back over to Kurt.

"Oh no, I'm not taking them… they're for you, I just … here let me help you okay? Can I put them on for you?" Kurt scolded himself inside, he needed to think more carefully about what he said and he had to calm down, otherwise he'd just make the other boy more nervous with his confused rambling. Blaine certainly looked unsure. Kurt reached out a careful hand for Blaine's left foot where he had slung it around one of the chair's legs when Kurt had startled him. Kurt took a loose hold of it and Blaine allowed him to guide it out from under the chair and watched Kurt as he pulled the first sock gently onto his foot. To Kurt's delight Blaine held out his other foot for him without Kurt's beckoning.

Kurt smiled up at Blaine brightly when his feet were sock-clad. "Very well done, thank you."

"Thank you, Ma-Kurt", Blaine whispered, his face twitching at his slip up.

"It's okay, don't worry." Kurt cut him off before he could apologize. "You've been calling people Master for a long time, I won't be mad if you can't shake the habit that fast. I promise I won't hurt you, if you slip up and call me master, I just want you to know that you can call me by my name."

Blaine nodded eagerly. Kurt smiled.

"Alright, Finn and Carole will be home soon, they are my step mom and step brother. They are really nice, but they don't know you're here yet, so don't be scared if they want to shake your hand or something, okay?" Blaine nodded. "Also Finn is really tall and intimidating, but he's just a big teddy bear, they're not gonna hurt you. In fact, no one will hurt you here. Try to remember that, okay?" Blaine nodded once more. It wasn't as convincing as it had been before, but Kurt was satisfied for now.

"I'll start making dinner, would you like to sit here while I do or are you tired?" Kurt asked.

Blaine seemed uncertain for a moment but then looked up at Kurt "May I sit here with you?"

"Of course." Kurt smiled at him and got to work.

Dinner was almost done when he heard Carole's car pull up in the driveway. Blaine had offered to help him with the cooking, but Kurt was worried he might fall over from exhaustion and burn himself on the stove. He had asked Blaine to remain on his chair.

The front door was slammed shut, making Blaine jump and Kurt made a mental note to have another talk about the proper handling of doors with Finn at some point.

He could hear his father talking urgently to Carole and Finn by the door.

Kurt sighed in relief that he wouldn't have to explain the situation yet again when the kitchen door was pushed open so hard it slammed into the door stopper with a bang.

"What the hell, man?" Finn snapped "You go out and get yourself a sex toy when Burt refuses to even get a house slave? I thought you didn't even like slaves, why would you-"

"Stop yelling, Finn!" Kurt snapped before lowering his voice "Can't you see you're scaring him?"

Finn took a proper look at the slave boy sitting in their kitchen for the first time, the anger vanishing from his face instantly. Burt and Carole had followed Finn into the kitchen, watching the scene in front of them with worried looks on their faces.

Kurt was glad they didn't come into the kitchen, Blaine was shaking in his seat, eyes lowered to the floor in front of him, crowding him wouldn't make it better.

"It's alright, Blaine," Kurt said gently "Finn didn't mean it. Did he?" He directed the last part to Finn, glaring at his brother.

"I'm… I'm sorry, dude." He looked back at his mom and Burt. "What's going on?"

"Honey if you'd just listen…", Carole sighed shaking her head.

"Let's sit down on the couch, okay?" Burt suggested, leading both Hudson's out of the kitchen. He looked back at Kurt apologetically and closed the door, leaving Kurt and Blaine alone in the kitchen once more.

"I'm so sorry." Kurt whispered so he wouldn't startle the other boy. "Finn didn't know why you're here, he just overreacted. I know that was scary, but dad's explaining it to him right now and it won't happen again, okay?"

"Please, Kurt, what…" Blaine's breath hitched, he looked up and Kurt could see his lower lip quivering "What will you do with me?"

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I-… He sa- … Your brother said you didn't like slaves, what will you…", Blaine lowered his gaze again, not daring to finish his sentence, or maybe he was afraid of Kurt's answer. Kurt bit his lip silently cursing Finn for his ignorance, while trying to think of something to say that would put Blaine at ease again.

"Please don't send me away." Blaine whispered so quietly that Kurt wouldn't have heard him if it hadn't been completely silent in the kitchen.

Kurt's heart sank.

"Oh no, Blaine, no, look at me." Kurt cringed inwardly at how fast Blaine's head snapped up to look at him. "I'm not sending you away, ever. Unless you want to leave, you can stay here, okay?" He paused for a moment not sure how to phrase this in a way that couldn't be misunderstood. Blaine was looking at the floor again, shaking.

"If you ever decide you want to leave, please talk to me first okay? Right now I am willing to beg for you to stay." He dropped to his knees in front of Blaine effectively forcing the other boy to meet his eyes. "You're so hurt and I can tell you're scared. I just want you to get better. I want to know that you're safe here, with us." Kurt felt tears well up in his own eyes. "I know you don't know me and I understand that you can't trust me yet, I do, but I promise I just want to take care of you. Nothing more. Please, will you try to believe me?"

Blaine was shaking harder still. His eyes were wide and fixed on the boy at his knees.

Kurt tentatively reached for Blaine's hand and held it between both of his own. Blaine looked at their joined hands, doubt still obvious in his features. He searched Kurt's face intently and waited for the other shoe to drop.

But Kurt just kept holding onto him gently, running his thumbs over Blaine's callous hand and waiting patiently.

After what seemed like an eternity Blaine nodded.

"Thank you." Kurt whispered, smiling up at Blaine.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When he was sure Blaine was going to be alright for the moment Kurt loaded the grilled chicken wraps he had been making on a big plate and placed them in the middle of the kitchen table. After setting three regular plates on the table he put the fourth one back into the cupboard and took out two soup plates. He didn't want Blaine to be the only one at the table who didn't get solid food. Blaine was staring at the empty plate that had been set in front of him as though it was a particularly challenging puzzle he had to solve.

"Let's see if the others are ready for dinner, shall we?" Kurt asked, opening the kitchen door and leaning out so he could glance into the living room. Upon seeing that his parents and Finn seemed to be done discussing the situation he called them to dinner.

"It looks lovely, Kurt." Carole complimented Kurt when she entered the kitchen before turning to Blaine and smiling warmly.

"Hello, dear. I'm Carole." She seemed to be uncertain whether or not to approach him for a moment and settled on giving him space for now. "I'm Kurt's step mom. I'm sorry Finn was so loud earlier, he was caught off guard. I'm very glad you're here with us tonight though."

She sat down on her usual spot on the opposite side of the table from Blaine. When Finn and Burt joined them, both sat down on either side of Carole, so that Finn ended up sitting next to Blaine.

"Sorry for the yelling." He said awkwardly, not looking at Blaine but staring at his plate instead.

"Start eating, the food's getting cold." Kurt ordered, interrupting the slightly uncomfortable silence. The remaining Hummel-Hudson's reached for the wraps while Kurt was busy placing the pot with the chicken soup on the table before taking a seat at Blaine's other side.

He scooped two spoons full of soup into Blaine's plate before serving himself the same thing. "Okay, careful, it's still hot." He warned the other boy.

Blaine didn't reach for his spoon.

Kurt didn't quite know what to say, he had a sinking feeling that maybe Blaine thought the soup wasn't meant for him or that Kurt had just given it to him as a joke of some sorts.

He settled for simply asking "You don't like soup?"

Blaine's eyes shot up. "It smells very good." He whispered as though that would answer Kurt's question.

"You don't have to eat it, if you really don't want to, but you know you can, right?" Kurt asked softly.

"I-… I can have some of this?" Blaine asked, hope thick in his voice.

Kurt nodded, taking a spoon full from his own plate hoping to set an example for Blaine.

Blaine tentatively took the spoon in hand and experimentally dipped it into the soup. He guided a small spoonful to his mouth, his eyes fixed on Kurt waiting for a reaction. Kurt just smiled at him and looked down into his own plate, focusing on his food only occasionally sneaking a glance at Blaine eating from the corner of his eyes.

"Dude", Finn said from across the table. "He's so skinny, you should feed him some proper food! Here, have a wrap!" He held a wrap in front of Blaine's face, causing Blaine to flinch back from the sudden invasion of his personal space. His eyes went wide when he saw what was being held out in front of him.

"No!" Kurt called, both Finn and Blaine looked up at him startled. Kurt snatched the wrap from Finn's hand and placed it back on Finn's plate. "He can't have anything solid, he can't stomach that yet. Just eat your dinner and mind your own business." It sounded a lot harsher than he had intended it to, but he had explicit orders to not let Blaine have more than he could digest, which at the moment wouldn't be very much.

"Kurt's right Finn", Carole jumped in, backing Kurt up. He didn't pay attention to what she explained to Finn though, because Blaine looked utterly crestfallen at the sight of his now empty plate.

An hour later Kurt was making up the guest bed for Blaine, mentally kicking himself. He should have taken more time to explain to the other boy exactly why he couldn't have any more food at the moment. He obviously hadn't entirely understood or otherwise he wouldn't have looked so sad, would he?

Blaine was in the next room, brushing his teeth again, he had looked delighted when Kurt had suggested he do that again before going to bed.

Kurt heard the soft footfall of socked feet approach the room and turned to see Blaine nervously wringing his hands. "May I use the … the toilet?"

Kurt was dumbfounded. "Yeah, yes. Yes, definitely, of course you can." He stuttered, shaking his head to clear it. "Whenever you want." He said, just to make sure there was no misunderstanding. "Erm… use as much toiletpaper as you like" Kurt added awkwardly.

"Thank you!" Blaine gasped before hurrying back to the bathroom as fast as his weak legs would carry him, leaving Kurt alone to wonder what this request had been about and whether Blaine hadn't always been allowed to… No, he wouldn't go there. The day had been too long and straining already.

Kurt was glad he seemed to have regained some strength after having dinner and taking the medication Carole had picked up at the pharmacy for him. The bed was ready when Blaine returned once more.

"Can I slee-… could… Where may I sleep, Kurt?" He asked, very quietly.

"Here, I just made up the bed for you." Kurt kept his voice as cheery as he could. "Do you wanna lie down? It's been a really long day, I'll go to bed soon as well." He pulled back the blanket for Blaine, gesturing for him to crawl in.

Slowly, never taking his eyes off Kurt Blaine sat himself down on the mattress.

"How do I please you?" Blaine asked, looking up at Kurt carefully.

The nauseas feeling that had been rising up in Kurt's stomach off and on all day as back full force.

"You don't have to please me, Blaine. I just want you to have a good night's rest, okay?" He pulled the blanket up, gently guiding Blaine into a horizontal position, tucking him in gently.

"If you need anything in the night, anything at all, no matter what, don't hesitate to call for me, okay? My room is on the upper floor, but I'll keep my door open, so if you call for me I should be able to hear you, okay?" Kurt explained as patiently and with as much emphasis as he would to a child suffering from nightmares

Blaine nodded, eyes darting nervously to Kurt's hands that were still holding onto Blaine's blanket.

Kurt sighed deeply. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Try and sleep well."

He got up slowly and walked out the door, leaving it open just a crack before heading to his own room.

Exhausted, Kurt lay on the bed, hugging one of his pillows to his chest as hard as he could, letting silent tears roll down his cheeks. Sleep wouldn't come. He watched his alarm clock go from 9 pm to 11 pm without drifting off once. His mind was full of horrifying images of Blaine, the slaves at the market, Blaine being whipped, the trader and his syringe…

There was an urgent knock on his door. He ignored it, he knew it was Finn by the way his knuckles pounded against the wood. "Kurt?"

"Kurt, Kurt, come on please!"

"Please go away, Finn, I don't wanna talk right now." Kurt said quietly. Finn opened the door anyway.

"No, dude you gotta get up! I think I did something awful."

"You did, Finn, you really shouldn't have yelled at him, he was terrified and-" He stopped when he saw how pale Finn looked.

"It's Blaine." Finn said.

"What happened?" Kurt's eyes widened and he was on his feet pushing past Finn and running down the stairs within seconds.

**Author's note: Reviews make my day :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's note: You completely made my day with your comments for the last chapter! Thank you so so much! Also, holy smokes, so many alert! Thank you 3**

Chapter 7

The door to Blaine's room was open when Kurt barged in.

The smell of vomit hit him, making his stomach turn.

There was no light in the room other than what fell in from the corridor and Kurt squinted in an attempt to make out Blaine. Failing to see the other boy he turned on the light.

Blaine wasn't in his bed, but he obviously had been when he got sick for there was a large pile of vomit on the wooden floor in front of the bed at head level.

Kurt's heart sank. He looked around frantically for Blaine. He opened the closet doors and was about to drop to the floor to check under the bed when Finn caught up with him.

"I got him to the bathroom when I heard him puke." He said.

"What the hell did you give him, Finn?" Kurt snapped. From the two ladles full of soup Blaine had had there should have never been such a large amount of sick.

Finn was looking at the floor and whispered "The leftover wraps from dinner."

"You idiot!" Kurt yelled, sprinting for the bathroom.

Blaine was kneeling in front of the toilet bowl, holding his stomach miserably. He looked up when Kurt joined him in the bathroom. His face was wet with tears and Kurt could see him shaking.

"I'm so sorry, Master!" Blaine sobbed.

"Oh Blaine…" Kurt whispered softly, dropping down onto the tiled floor next to the other boy, causing Blaine to flinch. He didn't know what to do. "Are you done for now or do you think you'll be sick again?" He asked.

"I don't know", Blaine snivelled "I'm sorry!"

"No, no don't be. Come on, lean against me, we can't have that much pressure on your knees!" Ignoring the way Blaine's body was shaking at his every touch, he pulled the boy sideways against his chest, effectively pulling him off his knees. The left side of Blaine's face was resting on his right shoulder. Kurt leaned back a little so he himself could lean against the cold tiles of the bathroom wall.

"Please punish me as you see fit." Blaine whispered. "I apologize for disobeying and for soiling your property." Kurt could feel tears soaking through the pajamas fabric at his shoulder.

Kurt closed his eyes, stroking the other boys arm slightly in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "It's not your fault." He assured him. "I'm not gonna punish you, not for this. Not ever."

"You said not to eat any more." Blaine whispered still tense against his chest. "Master Finn said it was okay, I'm sorry. I should have listened to my owner, not to anyone else. I'm sorry. It was so good, I shouldn't have… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." Kurt looked over his shoulder to see Finn awkwardly standing in the bathroom door. "I didn't know it was gonna make you sick, I just … you're so skinny… I didn't know."

"I told you he couldn't tolerate this type of food, so did your mom!" Kurt pointed out, speaking much softer than he had before, so he wouldn't scare Blaine any more than he already did.

"I thought you were just being dramatic." Finn admitted, his shoulders hunched.

Kurt was about to reply when Blaine started struggling against his hold, he released him. Blaine barely managed to bend over the toilet before being sick again, hardly expelling anything from his stomach.

Cringing in sympathy Kurt watched him dry heave over the bowl. When Blaine was done he practically collapsed back towards Kurt, who reached out just in time to pull Blaine back against him.

"I'm sorry", Blaine and Finn said at the exact same time. Kurt watched Blaine's eyes close in exhaustion. Kurt glared up at Finn who had slowly inched closer and was now hovering over the two boys on the floor.

"How can I make it better?" He asked.

"You can't." Kurt said pointedly.

"Kurt, please, let me help! There's gotta be something I can do." The desperate tone in Finn's voice made Kurt look at him, really look at him, for the first time this evening. He looked crushed.

Kurt sighed, looking down at the boy, who was still tense against his chest as if he expected Kurt to hit him or push him away at any moment. "Get a washcloth and run warm water over it, then wring it out and give it to me."

Looking back down at the boy in his arms, Kurt couldn't help but notice the dark shadows under his eyes. He looked so tired. Blaine's eyes shot open when Finn's form blocked out the bathroom light that had been falling on him. He went rigid in Kurt's grasp.

"Thank you, Finn." Kurt said calmly, taking the wash cloth from his brother. It was warm and soft in his left hand. "Why don't you clean up the mess in Blaine's room?" Finn looked relieved at being given another task to do and practically ran out of the room.

Blaine relaxed, but only marginally. He eyed the wash cloth with confusion and when he dared look up at his owner, Kurt could tell that he was still terrified.

"How about we clean you up a little?" Kurt suggested nodding towards the wash cloth in his hand.

Slowly he brought it closer to Blaine's face until it was softly resting against his right cheek, before he started running it over his face carefully, cleaning away the layer of sweat, tears and other evidence of his being sick.

He could feel Blaine relax under his ministrations, closing his eyes again with a soft sigh.

"I'm so sorry this happened." Kurt whispered softly "I was hoping that nothing would hurt you any more now that you're here with us." He finished cleaning up Blaine's face, discarding the wash cloth on the floor he started running his dry hand through Blaine's still messy curls.

"I should have explained better. Finn didn't know you were gonna be sick and I bet you were hungry, so of course you ate what he gave you. It wasn't your fault. You don't have to be afraid."

Blaine took a deep shuddering breath, tension draining from his muscles. Kurt knew he had to be saying the right things, so he kept talking.

"Your stomach doesn't know how to deal with normal amounts of food yet, so we can't give you too much right now. We'll start again with soup tomorrow and some other things that should be easy for you to deal with, and then we'll slowly add new things and make your portions bigger. I promise I won't make you go hungry. There will always be food for you."

Blaine's eyes were closed but a teardrop still escaped him, travelling down his cheek, Kurt tightened his grip on the boy ever so slightly.

"It's gonna be okay, you'll be strong and healthy in no time." Kurt promised. He stopped running his fingers through the other boys hair for a moment. "Are you feeling any better? Does your stomach hurt?" Blaine nodded, looking up at Kurt. "It's better now, I don't think I'll be sick again now."

"I brought you some water." Finn returned to the bathroom, carrying two cups. He handed one to Kurt, to give to Blaine and took the other one to the sink.

Kurt held the cup close to Blaine's mouth. "Small sips, okay? I don't want you to get sick again." Blaine nodded, taking a sip from the cup, before leaning back against Kurt. Finn handed him another cup "It's mouthwash," he explained.

Kurt smiled when Blaine reached for the cup, eagerly swirling the liquid in his mouth before spitting it back into the cup, which Kurt then handed back to Finn.

The bathroom was silent while Kurt had Blaine take another few sips of water over a couple of minutes. When it had become clear that nothing bad was going to happen to him, Blaine had gone slack against Kurt's shoulder. Kurt was about to ask Blaine if he thought he could walk back to his room when Finn whispered "Dude, I think he fell asleep."

He was right.

"I'll get him back to bed," Kurt said "can you bring the water cup and open the doors?"

"Are you sure you can carry him by yourself?" Finn asked uncertainly.

"Of course I can, he hardly weighs a thing." Kurt assured his brother, placing his arms in position under Blaine's knees and back, before carefully standing up and lifting the other boy off the floor with him, safely cradled against his chest.

He was going to bring Blaine back to the guest room, but the room now smelled of disinfectant and other cleaning supplies. The smell was thick enough to make Kurt's nose wrinkle in disdain, so he wouldn't risk having it make Blaine sick again.

Instead Kurt backed out of the room and headed up the stairs, a confused Finn trailing behind him.

He carefully placed Blaine in his own bed, the covers were still thrown back from his abrupt departure earlier and for the second time that night, he tucked Blaine in.

"Put the cup on the bedside table, I'll go tell dad what's going on." Kurt knew better than to let his father find a slave in his bed the next morning, no matter how innocent a reason he had for it.

Before he left the room he placed his trash can next to the bed.

"Watch him for a minute." He instructed Finn in a whisper before heading to their parent's room.

When he returned two minutes later with his dads sleepy approval he found Finn in the same position he left him, watching over Blaine's sleeping form on the bed.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Finn asked.

"I hope so." Kurt said.

Kurt sent Finn back to bed and took a seat in his arm chair on the other side of the bed.

He was tired, but he couldn't crawl into bed with Blaine, it would terrify him in the morning and he couldn't do that to the poor boy.

He couldn't sleep on the couch in the living room either for fear that Blaine might be sick again, might need him, choke on his own vomit, or wake up not knowing where he was and fearing punishment.

No, Kurt would sit vigil on his bedside, no matter how dramatic it may be.

He had to make sure he was alright.

**Review?**


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When Kurt woke up, it was light outside. He had known he would fall asleep at some point in the night, but he had hoped he wouldn't sleep this long. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight in his armchair.

To his relief Blaine was still asleep on the bed. He was sleeping on his stomach with his face turned to the side, so his black eye wasn't resting on the pillow. Kurt figured it must be the position that caused him the least pain. He couldn't get over how small the other boy looked, his cheeks sunken in and the circles under his eyes still prominent. Blaine looked as peaceful in his sleep as Kurt wished he would feel while awake, but he knew that once the slave opened his eyes, the haunted expression would be back. The assumption that Kurt had terrible things in store for him would be clear in his eyes. Kurt couldn't hold it against him, but that didn't mean he knew how to deal with it. There was nothing he could say to put the boy at ease, he could only give him time.

Kurt's stomach growled. He decided to let Blaine catch up on some more sleep, which Kurt figured he desperately needed, and snuck out of the room as quietly as he could.

He found his family having breakfast quietly in the kitchen.

"Morning." He said upon walking in. He received a chorus of good morning wishes in return.

"How is he?" Carole asked softly. "Finn filled us in on what happened last night."

"I don't know." Kurt admitted. "He hasn't been sick since I put him back to bed, so I guess that's good. He's still sleeping now."

"Poor thing." Carole sighed, glancing towards the staircase. "You should try to get some food in him soon, he looks so weak."

"He pretty much passed out on Kurt last night." Finn said, nodding in agreement.

Kurt sighed, considering what he should give Blaine for breakfast. He was grateful that it was only Saturday. He would have a whole weekend to help Blaine adjust before he went back to school. Maybe he could even talk his dad into letting him stay home for a couple of days…

"We'll have to get him a collar." Burt said with a disapproving frown on his face.

Kurt sighed, but nodded.

If a slave without a collar and owner identification is found in public without supervision they are either taken to a collection centre where they can be collected within a week, if the owner did want them back or they become property of the city, depending on the state one lives in.

All of the Hummel-Hudson slaves wore collars to work, since the street outside the tire shop was considered a public area and Burt didn't want any trouble with the authorities.

"It'll be a while before he's in any condition to wander off on his own, so I don't think we need to rush that." Carole pointed out.

Kurt put down his fork. He was starting to feel sick again. He didn't want to think about strapping anything around Blaine's neck. Blaine wasn't a dog. Although technically, Blaine was less than a dog, Blaine was his property, to do with as he pleased. The boy who was sleeping in his bed had cost him about as much as a new DVD. Kurt swallowed hard when he realized he owned socks that had cost him more than Blaine's life had.

Kurt excused himself from the table and started preparing Blaine's breakfast, hoping that Blaine would be able to handle a piece of toast and some tea. He could feel his dad watching him, but he didn't acknowledge it. He placed the plate with the toast and a fresh cup of tea on a tray and headed upstairs.

When he opened the door he could tell Blaine was awake, by the way his breathing was slightly faster and his muscles were slightly tenser than before. What he couldn't figure out was why Blaine would pretend to be asleep.

"Good morning." Kurt said quietly. Blaine's chest stopped rising as though he was holding his breath, he slowly turned his head from its sleeping position to look at Kurt who was standing in the doorway, tray in hands.

"Good morning, Si-Kurt." He whispered hoarsely, sitting up and lowering his eyes. Kurt could see he was holding on to his blanket rather tightly. "I- I'm sorry, I don't- I don't remember falling asleep here." He stuttered, fear evident in his eyes. "If I may, where are we?"

"This is my room. You kind of fell asleep on us last night and when Finn was done with your room it smelled so much like disinfectant that it almost made me sick. So I thought you'd probably be better off in my room." He sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly placed the tray over Blaine's lap.

Blaine seemed confused by the food in front of him.

"You should eat this slowly, small bites and small sips so you won't get sick again, okay?"

"Thank you." The boy said, reaching for the toast, not taking his eyes off Kurt for a second.

"I'll go find you some clothes while you eat then." Kurt announced, he didn't want to watch Blaine eat. He opened his closet doors and went to work looking for simple clothes that were too tight for Kurt to wear anymore. Thankfully, he found quite a few that didn't fit him anymore since his growth spurt a year ago.

"What would you like me to do today?" Blaine asked quietly, nibbling on his breakfast.

Kurt abandoned his search in favor of looking at the boy in his bed. "Well, I'd like you to either have a bath or a shower, though a bath would be better for your legs I guess and we'll have to clean your wounds and dress them. I think that's it, you should probably rest as much as you can."

Blaine didn't answer, he was staring at the tea on his tray instead and Kurt wandered what Blaine thought he would want him to do. He went back to looking through his clothes.

5 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and another pair of pajama should tide Blaine over until he was well enough to go out with Kurt to get his own clothes, Kurt figured.

Blaine was sipping at his tea, holding the cup as though it was made of thin glass. Kurt was starting to feel awkward, he didn't know what to say to Blaine.

A knock on the door saved him from having to come up with something.

"Come in." Kurt called.

"Ah… hey, just letting you know, Rachel's coming over later today." Finn said. "Morning, Blaine." He added upon looking at the bed.

"Good morning, Master Finn." Blaine answered, lowering his eyes to his mug.

"Thanks Finn, are dad and Carole going to be home or does that mean you want privacy?"

"Nah, they'll be here, so we'll just be in the living room. You can totally come and hang with us." Finn said, obviously not satisfied. "Erm… Blaine too, of course."

"Okay." Kurt smiled. "We'll see if we're up for it."

After Blaine had finished his breakfast, Kurt led him to the bathroom. Blaine was much steadier on his feet this time around, so Kurt let his hands hover near Blaine's waist and shoulders just in case, instead of having to hold him upright like he had the previous day.

He sat Blaine down on the closed toilet seat, before adjusting the temperature of the water pouring into the tub.

"Please take off your shirt so I can remove your bandages." Blaine obliged, instantly fumbling with the buttons on his pajama top before letting it slip down his arms. He caught the fabric before it could drop to the floor and clutched it to his chest, closing his eyes and leaning forward slightly to give Kurt access to his back.

Ever so carefully, Kurt started peeling off the bandages as gently as he could. He realized that this was the first time he had seen the broken skin on Blaine's back up close. He could see old scar tissue on the parts of skin that hadn't been freshly torn open, this wasn't the first time Blaine had been whipped bloody. Kurt swore to himself that he would personally make sure that it was the last time though.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you." He whispered when the last bandage was removed and the full extent of Blaine's injuries was laid bare before him.

Blaine flinched. "I deserved it." He whispered.

Kurt squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath before asking, as calmly as he could. "What could you possibly have done to deserve this?"

Blaine shuddered, clutching the shirt harder. "I soiled the market's property. I was forbidden from… going, but I… I couldn't hold it anymore and I… oh god, I'm so sorry." He whimpered, covering his face with his hands and curling in on himself as if he was expecting a blow.

Kurt was kneeling on the floor in front of Blaine in an instant. "There's nothing to be sorry for, you should have the right to do…erm… whatever you need to do whenever you have to." Kurt sighed, he shouldn't have pressured Blaine into telling him. He wasn't helping the boy, he was only upsetting him.

"I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" He didn't even know what the right thing to say was, but Blaine was looking at him, his face as unreadable as ever, but not as fearful as Kurt had dreaded it to be.

"How about you get in the tub, it'll make you feel better. I always feel better when I'm clean." Kurt suggested standing up. Blaine nodded and allowed Kurt to pull him to his feet by one hand.

He let go of the shirt he had been gripping and placed it next to the sink carefully. His pants followed and Kurt was looking anywhere but at Blaine until he heard the sound of someone sitting down in the water.

Kurt handed him the washcloth and some shower gel. "Are you going to be alright for a moment?" He asked the boy in the tub.

"Yes, Kurt." Blaine answered, looking up at him uncertainly.

"I'll be right back." Kurt promised, heading out of the bathroom.

He collected the pile of neatly folded clothing he had found for Blaine and brought it to the guest room, stacking all the clothes apart from jogging pants and a long sleeved shirt into the cupboard.

After getting Blaine's meds from the kitchen he headed back to the bathroom, but stopped short in the doorway.

Blaine was resting his head against the edge of the tub, running his fingers through the water in random patterns, scooping a handful of water up and letting it drop through his fingers back into the tub with a smile on his face. He sighed happily.

Kurt couldn't help but smile at the look on the boy's face. He couldn't believe that there were people out there who had willingly hurt him, raised a hand or whip or worse against him for no reason.

Blaine noticed him standing in the doorway and immediately sat up straighter and started scrubbing his skin with the washcloth again.

"No need to rush." Kurt said, placing the salves and pills on the counter next to the sink alongside with the fresh clothes "Take your time. Let me know if you need more hot water in there."

"Really?" Blaine asked and for the first time Kurt could hear actual excitement in his voice.

"Of course. Enjoy your bath." Kurt said with a warm smile.

"Thank you." Blaine sighed, sinking back into the tub.


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: I'm so sorry for the long wait! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback!**

Chapter 9

Kurt didn't let him soak for too long, since he didn't want to irritate the wounds on Blaine's back, but he did give him a few minutes to enjoy the bath and relax.

Blaine seemed absolutely fascinated by the fabric of his sweatpants and occupied himself by running his fingers over it while Kurt carefully disinfected and redressed the cuts on his back.

He could see the old scar tissue on Blaine's back clearly now that the ointment from the previous day had been washed off.

It was as though there were multiple scar layers. Kurt could make out individual letters that must have been cut into Blaine's skin with a blade, but they were obscured by other scars that looked as though they were probably caused by a whip as well.

6 owners, Kurt recalled the trader saying, but he figured there were probably more. Traders often lied about the amount of previous owners if the slave was in a good enough shape to make a higher profit by re-selling them. He would ask Blaine about his owners eventually, but now was not the time.

"Should we try and brush your hair?" Kurt asked, when the wounds were all covered in bandages.

"Yes please, Kurt." Blaine seemed a lot less nervous than he had been at breakfast. Kurt helped him into the sweatshirt that he had picked for Blaine to wear that day before fetching a new comb from the supply closet in the hallway.

He knew he'd have to brush Blaine's curls for him, since lifting his arms above his head was still painful for Blaine due to the wounds on his back.

"Let me know if I'm hurting you at all, okay?" He said before he started working the comb through Blaine's untamed curls carefully. Blaine didn't make a sound though.

The knots in his hair gave much easier than Kurt had expected and soon he was running the comb through untangled curls with ease. Kurt smiled to himself, those curls were going to look great soon, now that Blaine would have access to some proper hair care products, he made a mental note to get shampoo for his hair type soon.

"Now all that's left is your beard, it looks like someone tried to cut it off with scissors or something." Kurt said absent-mindedly looking at the uneven hair growth on Blaine's face.

"I'm sorry, Kurt." Blaine said, looking at his feet.

It occurred to Kurt that Blaine wasn't so much calling him by his name, as he was using his name as a title to address him by. He sighed.

"That's not your fault. Would you like to shave though?" Kurt asked.

"Yes. Very much, Kurt." Blaine nodded eagerly.

"Alright." Kurt pulled a new razor from his pack, pulled his shaving cream from the cupboard and handed both to Blaine. "Do you know how to use this?" He asked.

Blaine was looking at the razor uncertainly. "I know how, Sir, but I haven't had a brand new razor to myself since my hair started growing like this." He admitted.

Kurt wasn't sure what to make of this. "So… you need help with this?"

"No!" Blaine gasped instantly, clutching the razor to his chest. His eyes went wide. "I'm sorry, Sir, I meant I can handle it… I think."

"Okay." Kurt said, holding up his hands to show that he was going to let Blaine give it a try. "Go ahead." He added, guiding Blaine to the mirror.

He should have seen it coming, he knew he should have. The instant Blaine took the razor to his jaw Kurt knew he was going to use too much pressure, but the cut was made before he could stop the other boy.

Blaine stared at himself in the mirror. A few drops of blood were starting to discolor the shaving cream he had applied to his face.

Kurt was next to him in a flash, gently taking the razor from his hand and pressing a piece of toilet paper to the wound. It was only a tiny cut, but the discouragement he saw on Blaine's face told him that this had been a really bad idea.

"I'm sorry, Sir, for damaging your property." Blaine whispered, Kurt felt him try to lower his head, but Kurt's grip on his jaw from where he was pressing the toilet paper against his face was keeping his head in place.

"You're not …", he stopped himself from saying that Blaine wasn't his property and settled for "it's no big deal, it's just a small cut, it already stopped bleeding, see?" He removed the paper from Blaine's face so he could see the lack of new blood in the mirror.

"Would you like me to continue?" Blaine asked shakily, reaching for the razor on the sink.

"Show me your hands." Kurt said, cringing at his own demanding tone. Blaine did as he was ordered to do and extended his hands for Kurt to inspect, the razor in his right hand. They were trembling.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea." Kurt said.

He thought hard, he couldn't let Blaine shave himself, not like this, he was much too nervous and his hands not nearly steady enough; but he wasn't sure if he should offer to do it for him. Kurt knew he would never let anyone take a razor to his face, not even his dad, it was too much to ask of Blaine who didn't even know him. He couldn't expect this amount of trust from the other boy. They'd just have to wait until Blaine was a little calmer and try again in a few days. Blaine pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Kurt, if I…" Blaine swallowed hard "Could… would…I know, I have no right to ask, I'm sorry-"

"What is it, Blaine?" Kurt asked, concerned.

"I think I can't… I need help with this." Blaine whispered, holding out the razor.

Kurt looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Blaine's face fell. "It was just a… an idea, Sir. I would never-"

"I can do it for you, if you want me to." Kurt interrupted him in a calm voice, holding out his hand for the razor, before Blaine could start apologizing.

The other boy looked up at Kurt, searching his face for a moment. Kurt gave him an encouraging smile. Slowly and carefully Blaine placed the razor in Kurt's steady hand.

"Thank you." Kurt said, he carefully placed a hand on Blaine's shoulder and turned him back towards he light coming from the lamp above the bathroom mirror. "Tilt your head like this for me, please." He asked applying soft pressure to the side of Blaine's jaw. Blaine turned his head as instructed giving Kurt access to the left side of his face, leaving his neck slightly exposed.

"Very good, thank you." Kurt praised, Blaine was watching him in the mirror, his hands clenched at his sides. Kurt had never been so afraid to slip up in his life.

Carefully he took the razor to Blaine's left cheek, dragging the blade downwards with light but firm pressure. He cleared the razor from hair and shaving cream by rinsing it off in the sink, before taking it to Blaine's face again.

After a few strokes with the razor he could feel Blaine relax under his ministrations.

The slave closed his eyes and let Kurt position his head as he pleased. Slowly, bit by bit he cleared Blaine's cheek from facial hair.

"Is this okay?" Kurt asked, as he rinsed out the razor.

Blaine nodded, "Yes, Kurt."

"I'll do your neck next, don't be scared. Just tilt your head back a little… yes, just like this." Kurt said. He couldn't help but be touched, that Blaine would trust him enough to let him do this for him. He carefully stretched the skin on the other boy's neck as he continued to shave him. He could make out fine scars scattered around Blaine's upper neck and jawline that probably stemmed from being carelessly shaved at slave markets.

With the way Blaine's neck was exposed to him he could see the brand that marked him as a slave on the right side of his neck in all its detail.

The brand was a raised circle with slice cut out of it with wavy lines on the inside and what appeared to be an outline of an eagles head. Kurt frowned. He had seen the symbol before, but he couldn't remember where or when.

**AN: Please go to this link for a picture of the brand: (remove spaces)**

** captainpihkal dot tumblr dot com/ post/ 25012896458/ blaines-brand-by-the**

It was customary for the first owner of a slave to brand their family's crest or company's logo on the skin of the slave's neck, where it would always be visible. That way slaves were easily distinguished from free people even if their collars were removed.

Blaine's brand was so familiar, it made Kurt wonder if he knew Blaine's first owner personally.

After his neck was free of hair he moved on to his mouth area and chin, lost in thought. He could feel Blaine's gaze on him now. When he was finished he made Blaine wash his face with warm water and carefully dabbed him dry with a towel.

"Thank you, Kurt." Blaine said, admiring Kurt's handiwork in the mirror.

"You're not quite done yet, give me your hand." Kurt held out his hand for Blaine's. Blaine extended his hand without a moment's hesitation and watched Kurt squeeze a dose of aftershave onto his fingers. "Rub this into your skin gently, okay?" Blaine did as he was told.

"Erm. There's still this…" Kurt held up the ointment Dr. Holland had prescribed for Blaine's chancre awkwardly "You still need to apply this to your… erm…" Blaine looked up and blushed upon recognizing the bottle. "Yes, of course, Sir!"

"I'll just wait for you in the kitchen, come find me when you're done." Kurt didn't know why he suddenly felt embarrassed talking about Blaine's symptoms, but he did. Upon Blaine's nod of understanding he left the bathroom in a hurry.

"Look at you, all cleaned up." Kurt exclaimed, smiling warmly as Blaine joined him in the kitchen a few minutes later.

"I'm glad it pleases you, Kurt." Blaine answered, making Kurt's smile falter for a moment.

He let his eyes wander over Blaine briefly before he turned back to the stove to stir the soup he was warming up. Blaine was drowning in his clothes. Kurt couldn't help but look down at his own body to compare. The shirt the slave was wearing had been somewhat tight on Kurt, which was one of the reasons why he had given it to Blaine in the first place. It still hung loosely off Blaine's shoulders, leaving parts of his prominent collarbones exposed. The same was true of the sweatpants; if it weren't for the adjustable string, nothing would keep those pants on Blaine's hips.

He vaguely remembered one of the slaves from the garage being this thin, years ago, when his father had first bought him. Kurt himself had been a little kid and he couldn't remember which one of the men it had been, but he remembered the effect skinny arms and sharp cheekbones had had on him back then. The man had reminded him of a skeleton and caused him some nightmares. His father hadn't taken him to the garage for a while back then, not until the man had become healthier and less terrifying to a child's imagination.

"I'm warming up some soup. Do you think you're up for another snack or would you rather wait a little longer?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at Blaine who was still standing in the middle of the room awkwardly. "Oh, please, sit down, have a seat, you shouldn't overexert yourself with those knees."

Blaine dropped into a sitting position on the floor before Kurt even noticed that he hadn't told Blaine where to sit. It hadn't even occurred to him that he should have specified, even though he knew a lot of people didn't permit their slaves to use the furniture.

"I'd rather you sit on a chair, if you don't mind, okay?" Kurt said calmly, walking over to where Blaine had sat down, extending his hand to help the other boy off the floor. Blaine nodded before scrambling to his feet without Kurt's help.

"You can always sit on the furniture, it doesn't matter if I'm there to tell you to or not. You can sit wherever you like, alright?" Blaine nodded once more and sat down on the chair nearest to Kurt, looking up at him expectantly.

"So, would you like some soup?" Kurt repeated his previous question.

"Yes, Kurt." Blaine burst out eagerly before adding "Please, Kurt."

A few minutes later Kurt placed a bowl of soup and a slice of toast in front of Blaine. Although Kurt hadn't really had breakfast, he wasn't feeling hungry. He just sat with Blaine while the other boy ate.

He was at a loss at what to say. More than anything he wanted to put Blaine at ease, but nothing he could say could possibly make Blaine believe that he was safe and had nothing to be scared of anymore.

Blaine's eyes were starting to droop halfway through his soup, his movements becoming sluggish. Kurt smiled in sympathy at the almost adorable display of sleepiness battling the instinct to finish eating. He watched Blaine's inner struggle a little longer until he was fairly sure Blaine was about to fall asleep at the table.

"You should get some rest, you must be tired." Kurt suggested. Blaine looked at the kitchen clock in disbelief. It read 11:20.

"I can sleep?" He asked tentatively.

"You can, if you want to." Kurt confirmed. At Blaine's rueful look at the remaining food on his plate he added "You don't have to eat it up now, I promise there'll be food for you later."

Blaine thanked him in a whisper and allowed Kurt to guide him to the guest room by his elbow.

"I put some clothes in the dresser for you. Let me know if you need anything. I'll leave the door open a crack, but you can close it if you want to."

"Thank you, Kurt" Blaine sat down on the bed, looking at Kurt questioningly.

At Kurt's nod of approval he lay down on his side, pulling the blanket up to his neck.

When Kurt glanced into Blaine's room half an hour later, he found the other boy curled in on himself, sound asleep under the blanket, with only his head and hands poking out. Kurt could see his wrists were crossed, resting on the pillow in front of Blaine's face as though they were bound together by an invisible thread.

He decided to let the other boy catch as much sleep as he could and moved on to the living room where his father and Finn had made themselves comfortable in front of the television.

"Hey buddy." His dad smiled at him, patting the spot on the couch to his right "how's Blaine doing?"

Kurt dropped into the indicated spot next to his father and sighed "Tired, mostly. I think he's doing better though, he's much steadier on his feet today. He's sleeping now."

"Probably for the best, he needs all the rest he can get by the look of him."

Kurt felt tired; his night in the chair had given him a stiff neck. "What are we watching?" He asked conversationally while suppressing a yawn.

"The longest commercial break in the history of ever." Finn snorted. Burt nodded in agreement, scooting to a more comfortable position on the couch.

Kurt watched in amusement as his dad looked over the back of the couch, checking to see if Carole was around before putting his sock-clad feet on the living room table with a sheepish grin. Seconds later Finn did the same.

"Feet off the table!" Carole called from the kitchen, making both men jump. Kurt snorted.

"How does she do that?" Finn asked wide-eyed, moving his feet back off the table with a pout. Burt looked just as puzzled, mumbling "Sorry" over his shoulders before obeying his wife's order.

All three of them whipped their heads around when loud patriotic music started blasting from the TV.

"Are you sick of the annual disturbance that comes with the most wonderful time of the year? The ear-shattering noise disruption that arrives at your house every Christmas? So am I." A dramatic male voice said, patriotic music making his words sound far more impressive than they were.

"Oh come on, not that clown again." Burt grunted, turning down the volume.

"Caroling is a public disturbance." The voice continued

"Isn't that the guy who proposed the bill about making pizza a vegetable?" Kurt asked, frowning.

"Yeah, he's Rick "The stick"'s stepdad. He owns this huge chain of pizza places." Finn said.

"Reggie "The sauce" Salazar will personally ensure that you will never be bothered by stray groups of carollers again."

"Seems like he found his next worthy cause." Kurt snorted as a huge red X appeared over a picture of carollers dressed in Victorian costumes.

"I am Reggie Salazar and I approve this message!" A different male voice said proudly. A campaign logo started appearing and the first male voice read the words of it out loud. "Reggie "The Sauce" Salazar. Take a slice of the American dream."

**AN: Please go to this link for a picture of Salazar's logo and campaign slogan: (remove spaces)**

** captainpihkal dot tumblr dot com/ post/ 25013013123/ salazars-campaign-slogan-art-by-the**

Kurt's heart rate sped up when he recognized the logo. Blaine's first master had been the biggest homophobe and pro-slavery activist in the Senate, Senator Salazar.

His head was spinning, what did that mean? What did a homophobic Senator want with a male pleasure slave? It suddenly hit Kurt that he had no idea whether or not Blaine had always been a pleasure slave. Maybe he had simply been a household slave.

"You okay, buddy? You look a bit pale." Burt said.

Kurt shook his head. "I'm fine." Burt raised his eyebrows in doubt, but didn't seem to want to push him for answers.

He wondered at what age Blaine had been owned by the Salazars. Had Rick Nelson already been part of the family then? Kurt shuddered at the thought of Rick 'the stick' laying a hand on Blaine, no matter what his purpose was. Kurt knew from experience that the boy was prone to violent outbursts. Would Blaine ever have come in contact with Rick if he had just been a kitchen slave?

Finn's shouts of triumph pulled him out of his thoughts for a second, he glanced at the screen to see the game had resumed.

He leaned his head against the side of the couch, feeling suddenly helpless. His head was playing through all sorts of horrible ideas and images that made him shudder. Given the state that Blaine was in now, he had every reason to believe that at least some of them may be true.

**AN: In this alternate universe Burt Hummel didn't run for congress, because that would have put his family and his business in the spotlight of the media and the way the Hummel family treats slaves would not have found approval with the general public. Reggie "the sauce" Salazar won the election and made it into congress without much resistance.**

**The original logo is of the chamber of commerce. Reggie "the sauce" put a crust on it and took a slice out to make it look like a pizza and used it as a campaign logo.**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kurt was startled awake by the repeated ringing of the doorbell. Groggily he sat up and looked around. He was still on the living room sofa, but he was alone now. A blanket had been placed over him and the television had been turned off. Kurt figured he must have fallen asleep.

The house was silent until the doorbell rang once more.

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" He mumbled, pushing the blanket off himself and getting to his feet. The doorbell rang again. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He grumbled, speeding up his steps, cursing under his breath.

When he rounded the corner he collided with a warm body.

Instinctively he reached out and caught Blaine by the arms, effectively keeping him from tumbling to the ground. "I'm sorry, Sir!" Blaine gasped, regaining his balance. "I was just going to answer the door."

"No worries! Did I hurt you?" Kurt asked looking Blaine over. The boy's hair was dishevelled from his own nap he still looked somewhat sleepy but was otherwise alright. "No, Kurt." He answered.

The doorbell rang once more, reminding Kurt of his initial task. "Right." He mumbled, pulling the front door open.

"You know Rachel, there's a line between insistent ringing and leaning on the doorbell." He said with more than a hint of annoyance in his tone. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"And hello to you too, Kurt." She smiled nervously "didn't Finn tell you I was coming over?" She glanced over Kurt's shoulder as if she expected Finn to be hiding behind him.

"Oh, yeah, right, come in." Kurt said, opening the door wide for her. He had completely forgotten that Finn had given him a heads-up earlier. "FINN!" He hollered up the stairs, "Rachel's here!"

"Finn is still at football practice." Rachel informed him, handing her coat to the blonde girl who had caught up and entered the house behind her.

"Oh, hey Quinn, I didn't see you there." Kurt said. The blonde frowned at him and said "Good afternoon, Mister Hummel." She hung up Rachel's coat in a way Kurt was sure would cause it to wrinkle before turning back to her owner, but Rachel was occupied with someone else.

"And this must be Blaine." She smiled brightly, while advancing on Blaine, her hand held out as though she was going to pet his hair. Blaine was shrinking in on himself a little, but didn't move away.

Kurt swiftly caught her hand with his own before she reached him and spun her towards himself a little "Yes, that's Blaine. Now what do you mean Finn's still at football practice? What are you doing here, if he's not around?"

"Well, if you must know, I was hoping I could surprise him with my unexpected presence when he comes back. Finn thinks I'll be here in two hours, but I was bored because my dads are playing with my karaoke machine, so I decided to drop in early." She sounded so chipper and enthusiastic it almost hurt Kurt's sleepy eyes to look at her.

"Okay, whatever, wait in the living room if you want." He was about to direct Blaine up the stairs with him when Rachel caught his arm.

"Kurt." She whined, her eyes big. "Come on, we haven't talked since… well, it's been forever. We should catch up! Please, it'll be nice, we can talk on the couch and Quinn can make us some tea and…"

"No! Rachel, you're doing it again!" Kurt snapped, pulling free from her grip. "That's not something I can deal with. This is a deal breaker for me Rachel. I understand that you have different views than I do and I'm glad you and Finn found a way to work around it, but you can't come here and order Quinn into our kitchen. If I want tea, I'll make it myself!"

"No offence, Quinn, your tea is excellent." He added when he saw Quinn's face darken.

"I'm sorry Kurt, I didn't mean to …I just…" Rachel's eyes were getting watery "Just talk to me, please! I miss my best gay!"

Kurt took a deep breath and counted to ten. Rachel had been his friend for a long time. However, they had a fall-out a few weeks prior due to their vastly different views on slave ownership; he had refused to hang out with his best friend ever since. He looked at Quinn who was observing the scene in front of her with curious, somewhat calculating eyes.

Rachel had gotten Quinn on her 14th birthday. Quinn was an entertainment slave. Rachel had proudly told him that her dads had ordered Quinn to be educated in professional background singing for her, when she had first introduced Kurt to Quinn. Rachel's dads had thought she would be a good companion, friend, and maid for Rachel. Which Rachel of course took to mean Quinn was there to do her bidding and cater to her every whim.

Kurt had always had a hunch that Quinn didn't exactly appreciate how Rachel treated her. He was actually quite convinced at times that Quinn didn't even like her owner, or anyone else for that matter. What he hadn't known, however, was that once a month Rachel's fathers took their slaves, including Quinn, to the professional punisher. It was a lazy way for rich people to deal with their slaves misbehaviours, where the owners handed in a list of offences explaining how they wanted them punished and someone else did the punishing for them. He had been livid.

In retrospect he couldn't recall why, but he had assumed the Berrys were treating their slaves much better than most people did. Then again, people didn't actually discuss slave punishments openly, since people liked to impress others with their perfectly behaved slaves.

His silence prompted Rachel to try to convince him harder. "I haven't- we haven't taken them there anymore since… I told my dads I didn't want it anymore." She tried. "Tell him, Quinn."

"I haven't seen the corrector in two months, Mister Hummel." Quinn said in a neutral tone.

Kurt sighed, taking a long look at Rachel, before admitting "I do miss you."

Rachel squealed in excitement, clapping her hands gleefully. "I miss you too! Can I please hug you now?" Kurt rolled his eyes; he wasn't happy by far, but he really did miss her, so he nodded and found himself with an armful of Rachel Berry.

Over Rachel's shoulder he saw Blaine watching the scene with thoughtful big eyes. Kurt gave him a smile when he looked up.

"Alright, okay that's enough," he said, extracting himself from her a minute later. "How about coffee instead of tea though? I only just got up from a nap, I'm sure we have soy milk." Rachel nodded and followed him to the kitchen. Kurt stopped at the door "If you want to, you can go and get some more sleep Blaine." He said facing the boy who was trailing behind Quinn.

"Please, Mister Hummel, may I make your coffee for you?" Quinn interrupted before Blaine could answer.

"It's alright, Quinn, I can make my own coffee. Would you like something to drink as well?" Kurt asked. "I'm afraid it's still tea for you, Blaine."

"Thank you, Kurt." Blaine said, stepping into the kitchen with them.

Quinn was already at the cupboard pulling out cups before Kurt had even gotten halfway through the kitchen. He sighed; Quinn was nothing if not persistent.

"I know how you like your coffee, Mister Hummel, you can just go to the living room while I fix everything for you." She insisted, turning on the coffee maker and pulling the milk from the fridge at a speed that made Kurt suspect that Finn let her fix stuff for him in the kitchen a lot more often than he let Kurt believe. He sighed "If you insist."

"I can help, Kurt!" Blaine blurted out. Kurt turned to look at him. The look on Blaine's face was eager and hopeful. "You really don't have to, Blaine." He said with emphasis.

"Please, Kurt, may I help?" Blaine asked, his face sinking. Kurt couldn't tell him no. He may not want Blaine or Quinn to be slaves in this household, but with his black eye and falling expression Blaine looked like a kicked puppy and he couldn't be the one to put that look on his face.

"Alright, sure. We'll be in the living room then." He figured it may be good for Blaine to have contact with another slave; he had seemed to take to Brittany back on the car ride home. Kurt was startled when he realized that he had only brought Blaine home a day ago.

"He sure is eager to work." Rachel said as she sat down on the couch.

"I'd rather he be resting in bed." Kurt admitted, folding up the blanket he had slept under only minutes ago before joining her on the couch.

"Oh yes, Finn did say he was damaged." Rachel pulled a face when she realized how that had sounded, "hurt, I mean, he's hurt."

Kurt decided to let this one slip and pulled a pillow into his lap to get comfortable. "He is." Kurt sighed. He could hear Quinn and Blaine whispering in the kitchen.

"Well, he'll be fine in no time." Rachel said smiling. "With you as a nurse he couldn't not get better if he tried."

"I sure hope so" Kurt snorted. "So, what's new? What did I miss?"

They talked for a few minutes; and Kurt had almost forgotten how fast Rachel could talk when she was excited.

"Here's your coffee, Rachel." Quinn announced, smiling sweetly as she put a cup down on the couch table in front of Rachel. Kurt looked over his shoulder to see Blaine emerging from the kitchen with a cup as well. He seemed uncertain though; his hands were shaking as he cast an unhappy glance at Quinn and stopped short a few steps away from the couch.

"Mister Hummel is waiting." Quinn hissed, causing Kurt to look at her in surprise.

The sound of breaking china made his head snap back to Blaine who was staring at the floor where the cup lay broken in a mess of spilled coffee with wide eyes.

Kurt knew what was going to happen but his cry of "No, don't!" came too late.

Blaine had dropped to his knees on the floor. He was scooping up the shards with his bare hands before Kurt's command made him freeze in his tracks, both hands buried in the sharp edged mess.

Kurt scrambled to his feet and pulled Blaine upright and out of the shards with an arm around his waist. Blaine froze in his grip, but let himself be dragged to the kitchen sink.

"Did you cut yourself?" Kurt asked frantically, looking at Blaine's arms and knees while he made sure the pouring water was at an acceptable temperature. Blaine yelped when Kurt pulled his hands under the flow of the water.

"What? Is it hot?" He pulled Blaine's hands back and felt the water again, it was lukewarm. "What's wrong?"

Blaine was breathing rapidly. "I'm sorry, Master, I'm so sorry. Please punish me for my failure, I'm so sorry."

Kurt shook his head "No, no one is punishing you. You dropped something, it happens." Blaine didn't seem to hear him though; he was just staring at the water that was still flowing into the sink.

"You're okay, Blaine, nothing bad is gonna happen." Kurt said, much lower and calmer than before. "Here, I'll help you clean up, okay? I just need to see if you hurt yourself. You shouldn't have tried to clean it up with your bare hands."

"Is he okay?" Rachel's voice came from the direction of the door, but Kurt didn't bother to look at her.

"Maybe you should leave now, Rachel." He said, in the tone that he thought left no room for discussion.

Kurt gently grasped Blaine's hands and guided them under the faucet, carefully washing off the little pieces of the cup that stuck to his skin, but hadn't cut him yet. Blaine's right forearm hadn't been quite so lucky. When Kurt moved up further to rinse off Blaine's wrists he noticed the thin red track that discoloured the coffee drops that clung to where Blaine had tried to soak it up with his arms.

When he turned Blaine's forearm he found two small cuts there. He sighed in relief.

"Well, that could have been worse." He finished rinsing Blaine's hands and forearms; Blaine was letting Kurt move him like a rag doll and otherwise holding completely still. He heard the front door slam shut after Rachel and Quinn.

"There we go, all clean." He pulled up a chair. "Here, sit." Blaine sat while Kurt rushed to the cupboard for a fresh towel and a band aid pack. Carefully he petted Blaine dry, mindful not to scratch over the cuts.

"I'm sorry." Blaine repeated weakly.

"It's okay, no big deal, really." Kurt assured him, covering the cuts, which had already stopped bleeding, with smiley faced band aids. "There we go, good as new. Wait here for a second okay?"

Kurt headed back into the living room, picking up the broom and shovel on the way. The mess was cleaned up and the shards were discarded in no time.

When he arrived back in the kitchen, however, everything was not peachy. Blaine was as pale as a sheet and curled into himself as best as he could manage while sitting on the chair Kurt had sat him on.

"Hey," Kurt whispered softly, as he crouched down in front of Blaine's chair to catch the boy's gaze. "It's all cleaned up, no harm done. Honestly, Blaine you can relax, you won't be punished. I promise."

"I did it on purpose!" Blaine burst out, tears overflowing from his eyes. "I dropped the cup. It wasn't an accident, Mast-, Sir. Kurt! Oh god, please, I'm sorry." He sobbed.

"Shh, shh," Kurt pulled one of Blaine's hands away from where Blaine had been gripping his own shirt, trying to sooth the boy by running his fingers over the back of his hand. "What do you mean it wasn't an accident?" He asked, confused.

Blaine's breath was coming so rapidly that Kurt was worried the boy was going to pass out on him. "I didn't want-.. she - no. … Sir, I can't. I didn't mean to break- …I didn't want you to- …" with a shaky breathy he settled on "I can't say."

"What do you mean? What can't you say?" Kurt was really worried by now, holding Blaine's hand in his, with his thumbs stroking it still.

Blaine shook his head, looking around the room frantically as if he was looking for a way out.

"Blaine!" Kurt called, hoping to pull the boy out of his panicked haze. "I promise, whatever the reason, you won't be punished for dropping that damn cup, but please, tell me what happened!" He regretted making it sound like so much of an order, but the other boy was scaring him.

"I didn't want you to drink it. She-" Blaine's eyes went wide and he clapped his free hand over his mouth in horror.

"She?" Kurt asked in confusion. "Rachel?" But then it dawned on him. "Quinn." He said, at the look on Blaine's face he knew he was right. He looked at the slave for a moment, contemplating everything he had said. Blaine had dropped the cup on purpose. Because of something Quinn did. And he didn't want Kurt to… what? Drink it? Oh.

"What did she do with the coffee?" Kurt asked and Blaine looked as though he was going to be sick.

"Tell me, Blaine!" Kurt insisted, standing back up to his full height.

"She spit in it." Blaine whispered, ducking his head into his hands as though he was expecting a blow.

Kurt sighed in relief. Of all the horrible ideas that had come to his mind in the past few seconds this seemed remarkably harmless, even though it was quite disgusting. It took him a moment to register Blaine's defensive position.

"Blaine." He got to his knees in front of Blaine's chair, gently prying Blaine's hands off his face, holding them gently in his own as he looked up into Blaine's confused face.

"You were looking out for me." Kurt gave Blaine his most encouraging smile. "You didn't want me to drink coffee someone had spit in?"

Blaine nodded.

"You rather dropped it, even though you thought I was going to punish you?" Another, much more tentative nod.

"Oh Blaine." Kurt sighed, smiling warmly at the other boy. "That was very sweet of you."

"Please don't punish Quinn either." Blaine whispered, his eyes fixed on the floor again. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have let it happen in the first-"

"Blaine, no one's going to be hurt or punished, okay?" Kurt said, smiling reassuringly when Blaine looked at him cautiously.

"Thank you, Kurt."

"Nothing to thank me for." Kurt gave Blaine's hand a light squeeze in an attempt to reassure him. Blaine's hand was cold. "Everything's alright." He assured Blaine once more.

"Let's get you warmed up, your hands feel freezing cold."

"I'm sorry, Kurt, they're always cold." Blaine whispered.

"That's alright. We'll just have to keep you warm then. How about we watch a movie and relax a bit?"

"If it pleases you, Kurt." Kurt closed his eyes, hoping his frustration at the submissive answer didn't show on his face.

"No, we don't have to." He said as calmly as he could manage. "Would you rather have some more soup, or take a nap?" Blaine's hopeful expression at the mention of sleep gave his preference away, even though he answered with "Whatever you think is best, Kurt."

Kurt sighed heavily, regretting it instantly when Blaine flinched a little.

"Let's get you back to bed then, you look like you're about to fall over." It was true, Blaine was pale and the earlier trembling hadn't quite subsided yet; he looked incredibly tense again. Still, Blaine allowed Kurt to pull him to his feet and followed him down the corridor to the guest bedroom.

Kurt was pulling back the blanket for Blaine to get back to bed when he heard the door click shut behind him.

He spun around and found Blaine awkwardly standing by the door. From the look on his face, Kurt could tell that he was thinking hard.

"I want to thank you, Kurt, for letting me rest a whole day," Blaine was looking at him intently, as if trying to guess whether what he was saying pleased Kurt or if he was speaking out of turn. "And for feeding me, clothing and bathing me." Blaine paused for a moment, assessing Kurt's reaction.

Kurt didn't speak. He could tell Blaine wasn't done. The silence in the room felt awkward and unsettling.

"I know I'm sick and not appealing with the way I look now, but I can serve you, Kurt. I swear I can be useful and give you pleasure." Blaine was speaking frantically now, his fingers locked in a pleading gesture in front of him. He stumbled across the room towards Kurt.

"Blaine, no, I-"

"I know I'm infectious, but if you would please allow me to put a condom on you, I'll be careful, I promise I can make you feel good! I know the medication is worth more than I am, but I will work for it! I will make it up to you, I'll be so good! I'm a good slave, Kurt, I can do whatever you-"

"Blaine, Blaine, no stop!" Blaine fell silent, dread clear in his eyes. "Blaine, that's not why you're here, I don't want you to have … relations with me or repay me any other way."

"Kurt, please, Kurt, I know most owners don't like condoms, but please let me earn my keep."

"This is not about…" Kurt paused. He reached out to the scared boy in front of him, placing his hands on his shoulders. "You don't have to earn your keep or your medication. I brought you here because you needed help and I want to help you. There's nothing I want in return and no medication could ever be worth more than you are, Blaine."

He gently pulled Blaine towards the bed and set him down on the edge.

"Am I to service Master Finn then?" Blaine asked, looking up at Kurt with a confused expression on his face.

"No!" Kurt gasped, startled by the suggestion. "No, you're not supposed to … service anyone."

Blaine's lower lip was quivering while his eyes were growing wetter by the second. "I don't understand." He said, looking past Kurt into empty space.

Kurt felt lost. He didn't know what to say, he didn't understand what Blaine needed to hear to feel safe and there was no one there to help him out. Hoping that he wasn't going to frighten the boy any more than he already was, Kurt sat down on the bed next to Blaine.

"I know this is new and scary," he began "but you don't have to be afraid. We… that is my dad, Carole, Finn and I, we don't expect anything from you. I didn't buy you for a purpose. We're probably gonna ask you to help out around the house once you're feeling better, but nothing more than a few chores. But for now, all I want you to do is focus on getting better, okay? Just sleep whenever you like and eat when you can, because we really need to get you to a healthier weight. We'll keep taking care of your back and we'll go see Dr. Holland again soon to make sure you're getting better." Blaine was nodding along with everything he said, as if he was trying to absorb Kurt's every word. "Blaine?" He asked softly.

"Yes, Kurt?"

Kurt bit his lower lip. "Why don't you lie down and sleep for a while? I know today was stressful."

"Yes, Kurt." Blaine lay down on his side on the mattress as quickly as he could while still minding his knees and back. Kurt pulled the blanket over his body and tucked it in around his neck in a motion that was starting to feel familiar.

He stopped himself from running his hand over Blaine's arm like he would if it were Finn or Rachel he was tucking in, because he didn't want to send the wrong message. He could see the tension in Blaine's posture as the boy waited for Kurt's next move or request.

"Sleep well, Blaine." He said softly "Call for me if you need anything at all, or come get me, alright?"

"Yes, Kurt."

Only when he had left the room did he allow his face to fall. Kurt sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to get used to hearing his name as Blaine's new synonym for 'Master' for long.

**Reviews would mean the world to me! I hope you enjoyed it! 3**


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Kurt woke up disoriented on the couch the next morning. He was covered by the same blanket that had kept him warm during his afternoon nap the past day. To his displeasure he was still wearing the same clothes he had worn all of yesterday. Then again, he figured it would have been much more unsettling if someone had dressed him in pajamas instead, so he silently appreciated his family's acceptance of personal boundaries.

"Oh good, you're up." Kurt sat up to see his dad leaning in the living room door, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Is Blaine-"

"Still asleep in his room." His father assured him before he could worry. He leaned back against the couch with a sigh, rubbing his eyes.

"There's coffee in the kitchen, if you want any." Burt said, taking a seat in the armchair.

Kurt shook his head. "Where did you disappear to yesterday?"

"Carole and I decided to drop in on the guys at the garage. They were really happy when Carole offered to make dinner. Apparently, Coop was the only one with any cooking skills whatsoever. I guess, I'm gonna have to send one of them to the education centre for cooking lessons." Burt chuckled.

Kurt smiled, but he could tell his dad hadn't just randomly decided to drop in by the auto shop on a Saturday night.

"You're staying away on purpose." Kurt stated, puzzled at his realization. Burt sighed, nodding. "Why?" Kurt asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He sat up straight facing his dad. "I thought you weren't mad that I bought Blaine!"

"No, buddy, of course I'm not mad! You're doing a great job taking care of him too, kid. But if I learned anything about helping new slaves settle in, it's that the more people they have to answer to, the harder it is for them to focus on getting adjusted. Most of them are used to having one master. Until Blaine understands that he's not a slave to us, that master is going to be you." Burt explained calmly.

"I don't know what I'm doing, dad." Kurt admitted miserably. "I think most of the time I just scare him. I have no idea what to say to him at all…"

"Kurt, when your mom and I brought Jim home, we had no idea what the hell we were doing. He wasn't as hurt or as scared as Blaine, but he wasn't used to decent people either." Kurt felt a pang of sympathy in the pit of his stomach.

Jim, now in his late thirties, had been the first Hummel slave to be set free. The dark skinned man had been with the family for almost 13 years now; he was a strong, intimidating guy at first glance, but Kurt knew the man was a teddy bear inside. He had a lot of fond memories of Jim babysitting him at the auto shop when his dad had to take him to work with him, because he couldn't afford a babysitter for Kurt after his mother passed away.

"What did you do?" Kurt asked.

"It was tough at first," Burt said. "He thought we were tricking him into a punishment when we offered him the same food we were having and he wouldn't sit at the table with us or do anything that would put him into an equal position."

Burt removed his cap and rubbed his head thoughtfully. "He'd just sit in a corner during meals and wait for the leftovers. We didn't know how to make him comfortable." A fond smile appeared on Burt's face when he looked up and met Kurt's eyes. "But you did."

"What?"

"I'll never forget it." Burt chuckled. "You were coloring at the living room table and your mom made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a snack. We were all sitting in the living room. I don't remember what we were doing, but Jim was sitting in his usual corner, away from the rest of us. You just got up with your plate and you sat down right on Jim's lap and held up a half of your sandwich right in front of his mouth." Burt laughed at the memory. "I still remember his face; he was so confused, but you didn't move until he'd taken a bite."

Kurt shook his head, laughing incredulously.

"It got a lot easier after that." Burt's face grew serious again. "What I'm trying to say is: you instinctively knew what to do when you were three years old. I doubt that you could mess up now, even if you tried."

At his father's words, Kurt found that he was breathing a little easier. "You really think so?"

"I believe in you, kid! Always have and always will." Burt assured him and got up from the chair. He was halfway to the kitchen before he remembered. "Oh right, almost forgot. Dr. Holland called yesterday evening. Do you think you can take Blaine to her at 9 pm?"

"9 pm? Isn't that kind of late for a doctor's visit?" Kurt asked.

"Well, she can't exactly put slaves down as official patients during business hours." Burt explained.

"Oh, okay, yes, of course. I'll take him. Did she say anything about the test results?" He asked hopefully.

"No, buddy, sorry." Burt said, before retreating into the kitchen.

"Thanks, Dad." Kurt called after him, before deciding that maybe coffee wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Over breakfast Burt reminded him that Carole was working the morning shift and Finn was at football practice again. Between the two of them they decided to let Blaine sleep rather than to wake him for breakfast.

"He's so tired." Kurt mumbled between small bites of toast.

"Makes sense, I don't know how long he was with that market, but I know they sure as hell don't let them sleep much. And he's so little, too…" Burt trailed off with a sad look on his face. "He'll be better soon. You'll see, and then we can figure out everything else with him. This is always the hardest part: When you get a new slave, the time it takes for them to settle in and figure out that nothing bad is gonna happen to them. Even when they're strong and healthy to begin with, it takes time to understand that they're actual people here. And with this kid, it'll probably take a lot longer."

Kurt nodded. "Can I stay home with him tomorrow?"

"Absolutely not." Burt snorted, seemingly amused by Kurt's suggestion.

"What? Why not?" Kurt said, probably a bit too loudly. He put down his toast in favour of leaning back and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Burt's expression turned serious.

"How do you think that's gonna look when people find out about Blaine? You think people aren't gonna talk about how you bought a sex toy and the next week you stayed home from school because you were too busy with it?"

Kurt paled. "Why would people know about Blaine?"

"Oh come on, kid. Santana was at the market with you and between Rachel and Mercedes being in and out of the house like they live here, it's only a matter of time. It's not like Finn's a brilliant secret keeper either. But nevermind the gossip, what about school? I'm not letting you compromise your GPA to play nurse."

"I can't just leave him here alone!" Kurt protested.

"Sooner or later you'll have to. If you stay home on Monday, you're gonna want to stay home on Tuesday too; he's not gonna get better in half a week, so there's no use for this nonsense in the first place." Burt insisted, at the look on Kurt's face his expression softened and he added "He'll be fine on his own for half a day, and he'll probably be asleep anyway."

"Fine." Kurt gave in. He'd have to come up with some way to make sure Blaine was okay, even if he couldn't be there.

"That's my boy." Burt said approvingly, putting his now empty plate into the sink. "I'm gonna go get ready and then I'm gonna go to the shop. I'm kinda falling behind on the paperwork. Don't forget, 9 pm!"

"Got it." Kurt assured him and turned his attention back to the last bites of his toast as his father left the room.

When he knocked on Blaine's door an hour later, freshly showered, already dressed for the day and with a plate of fresh toast and a cup of tea in his hands, there was no answer. He carefully pushed the door handle down with his right elbow and let the door swing open quietly. He smiled when he saw Blaine's sleeping form on the bed. The boy was sleeping on his side, his front turned towards the door with a peaceful expression on his face. The blanket covered him to his ribs.

Kurt put the plate and cup down on the empty nightstand and sat down on the edge of Blaine's bed.

The bruise around Blaine's eye had turned a dark purple color, while the edges were turning yellow. Blaine's lips were parted and Kurt could see that the cut on his lower lip had started to heal. Blaine's curls were strewn wildly across the pillow and Kurt had to restrain himself from brushing a wayward curl out of his face.

His eyes fell on Blaine's wrists which were crossed on the pillow next to his face again. The other night, he hadn't been close enough to see, but now he could clearly make out a matching set of scars on both of Blaine's wrists. There was no doubt in his mind that Blaine was used to sleeping with bound wrists. With wrists bound tightly enough that constant rope burn had made the tissue underneath the ropes scar. He wondered if he'd find similar scars on Blaine's ankles too. Kurt felt a sinking feeling in his chest when he considered that being tied up was hardly the worst thing that happened to Blaine in the past.

He had half a mind to let Blaine sleep some more, but he had to get some more food into the boy; he could always let him go back to sleep after.

Kurt's hand hovered over Blaine's shoulder for a second, but he pulled it back again.

"Blaine?" He whispered instead. "Blaine, it's time to wake up. Breakfast is ready."

Blaine frowned in his sleep and buried his nose in the pillow, rubbing his face against the soft fabric for a second. A warm feeling settled in the pit of Kurt's stomach when Blaine emitted a content sigh.

"Blaine." He said, a little louder this time, but with a gentle tone nonetheless.

The boy stiffened as he startled awake, looking disoriented for a moment.

"Morning." Kurt said, smiling softly "there's breakfast for you on the nightstand. I hope you like chamomile tea." Blaine's eyes focused on Kurt and the confusion was replaced with a flash of delight.

"Sir! I mean- good morning, Kurt." He said, quickly correcting his mistake.

"Did you sleep well?" Kurt asked as Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position against the headboard, dragging the duvet up to cover himself to the chest. Kurt handed him the cup of tea, careful not to spill any of it on the bed.

"I did, thank you, Kurt." Blaine took the cup from Kurt and gave the liquid an experimental sip, eyes widening at the taste.

"Do you like it? I can make something else if you don't."

"No, it's really good, thank you." Blaine's gaze landed on the digital clock on the shelf and he startled. "I'm sorry for sleeping so long, Kurt, I should have been up hours ago!"

"No, no, Blaine, don't worry! Remember what we talked about yesterday, about sleep being good? I'm glad you got to sleep in, it's good for you." Blaine relaxed and took another sip of tea.

"We're going to see the doctor at 9 pm tonight." Kurt informed him, offering Blaine the plate of toast. Blaine took it and placed the plate in his lap.

"You are- erm… are you coming with me?" Blaine asked hopefully.

"Of course." Kurt promised. "I'll be driving you there anyway, if you want I can come in with you, but that's entirely up to you."

"Thank you, Kurt." Blaine whispered, clutching the half full mug against his chest.

The remainder of the day passed, much like the day before had.

Kurt drew Blaine a bath and helped him remove his bandages and reapplied new ones after Blaine had some time to soak in the hot water.

He made a mental note to make Blaine start taking showers soon, since he seemed capable of holding himself upright for more than a few minutes by now. Then again, Blaine seemed so happy submerged in warm water that Kurt decided their water bill could handle a couple more baths.

Blaine seemed more at ease than Kurt had ever seen him before. Kurt wasn't sure if it was due to their talk the previous night or if it was just a result of a peaceful night's rest in a comfortable bed.

After coaxing two bowls of vegetable soup into him, Kurt sent Blaine back to bed for a nap until it was time to get ready to see the doctor.

That is how Kurt found himself on the edge of Blaine's bed to the second time that day.

Blaine was sleeping fitfully, his wrists clutched to his chest and curled up into a tiny ball in the middle of the bed, whimpering softly in his sleep.

"Time to wake up, Blaine." Kurt said, but Blaine didn't react. After calling out twice more Kurt placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him gently.

Blaine twitched and the movement of his own body seemed to wake him from whatever dream he had been trapped in. He breathed a sigh of relief when his eyes fell on Kurt.

"Is it time to go?" Blaine asked. His voice was hoarse and shaky.

"Yeah, but we're in no hurry. Bad dream?" Kurt looked at him in concern.

Blaine nodded. His eyes fell on the closet. "What would you like me to wear outside, Kurt?"

Kurt sighed, but didn't call Blaine on his attempt of deflecting. "How about these black jeans…" He got up and pulled the pair he was talking about from the closet "…and this red sweatshirt? It's pretty cold outside, so I'll go find you a coat. How about you go get dressed and meet me by the door?"

"Yes, Kurt." Blaine said, looking relieved.

A coat for Blaine was easily found in Kurt's vast collection. He opted for one of the warmer coats he had. With the lack of insulation on Blaine's body, he'd need all the extra padding he could get. Winter was fast approaching and the last thing Blaine needed right now was to catch a cold.

In the entrance hall Kurt remembered that Blaine didn't even own a pair of shoes. "Blaine?" He called across the hall. "What shoe size do you wear?"

At Kurt's call Blaine came rushing out of his room, almost tripping over his own feet. He was dressed in the clothes Kurt had laid out for him, the sweatshirt that had admittedly been large on Kurt was hanging off him like a little tent, but it was warm, so Kurt decided not to make him change out of it. The jeans however were held up by nothing but Blaine's hands that were clutching the waistband and keeping the pants from falling to the ground.

"A size 12, Kurt." He answered Kurt's question.

"Okay, I think I still have some in that size from when I was younger. Wait here for a minute."

Kurt hurried back into his room and rummaged through the collection of old shoes that were stacked neatly in boxes in the back of his walk-in closet.

"Ha!" He yelled in triumph when he found a pair of size 12 boots. On his way out of the closet he grabbed a black leather belt with a simple square metal buckle for Blaine's pants and hurried back upstairs.

"I think I found something for you." He called out to Blaine as he made his way down the stairs to the entrance hall.

When Blaine spun around to face him his eyes went wide. Kurt smiled and hurried over to where Blaine was waiting for him.

In confusion he watched as the color drained from Blaine's face. The boy raised his arms, holding his hands in front of his face as if to shield it from blows. His pants dropped the moment he let go of the waistband, pooling around Blaine's ankles. When he took a defensive step sideways, he tripped over the fabric and landed with his left side first on the floor, arms curled around his head.

"Blaine!" Kurt called out in shock, dropping the shoebox and belt to kneel down by Blaine's side. "Are you hurt?" He asked, frantically trying to pull at Blaine's hands, so he could see Blaine's face.

"Please, I'm sorry." Blaine cried out, when Kurt pulled his hands away, clasping them tightly with both of his own. "I'm sorry."

"Calm down, Blaine, please! What happened?" Blaine was looking up at him, eyes still wide with fear and Kurt was suddenly painfully aware of how he had manhandled Blaine in his panic to make sure he was okay. He let go of Blaine's hands, trying to give him space.

"What's wrong?" He asked in what he hoped was a calm tone.

"Please don't make me wait for it." Blaine whimpered, curling up on the floor, his pants still trapped around his ankles, leaving his bare legs exposed to the cold tile floor.

"Wait for what, Blaine?" Kurt asked trying to catch Blaine's gaze.

"The be- …the beating." Blaine whispered.

"What beat-" his eyes followed Blaine's gaze and found the belt that lay discarded on the floor next to him. His heart sank. "Oh Blaine, no! No one's getting beaten. Sweety, no! This is for your pants, to help hold them up, so this doesn't happen." He indicated towards the fabric trapping Blaine's ankles.

Blaine was looking from Kurt to the belt and back as if waiting for Kurt to change his mind. Then slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position. He kept his eyes on Kurt when he pulled the pants back up over his legs.

"Let me help you up." Kurt said, carefully reaching for Blaine. When Blaine didn't flinch, he pulled him back to his feet with ease.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself falling?" Kurt asked.

"No, Kurt. I'm fine, Kurt." Blaine whispered, pulling his pants in place, looking at the floor in shame.

Kurt dropped back to his knees to retrieve the fallen items. "Let me help you with the belt?" He asked, now directly in Blaine's sight, holding out the belt to him like an offering.

Blaine looked uncertain for a moment, but nodded after taking a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry I scared you." Kurt apologized. "I wasn't thinking, I'm so, so sorry." He pulled the belt through the first loop, then the next. "I promised I'd never beat you and I meant it." He could feel Blaine release a shaky breath as he reached around the other boy to push the belt through the loops on the back of his jeans. "It's not gonna happen. Ever. I swear." The belt went through the last loop and Kurt looked up. "Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself?" He asked as he pulled the belt tight.

"Yes." Blaine said, breathing deeply and Kurt could tell he was finally relaxing now that the belt was fastened around him and in no way a weapon anymore. "Thank you, I'm sorry, I'm fine."

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Kurt assured him, pulling the boots from the box.

"Let's see if those fit." He helped Blaine step into the left boot and pulled up the zipper.

"Comfortable?" He asked.

"Very, thank you, Kurt." He smiled and helped Blaine into the other boot as well.

"There we go." He said, pulling the coat he had selected for Blaine earlier from the coat rack, holding it open for Blaine. Thankfully it was really big for Blaine as well, so he didn't have to pull his arms back too far to slip in.

Kurt pulled on his own shoes and coat before looking Blaine over one last time, his eyes lingering on Blaine's bare hands. He rummaged through the pockets of another coat that still hung on the rack and pulled a produced a pair of fingerless gloves from its depths.

"Put these on, too." Kurt held the gloves open so all Blaine had to do was wriggle his fingers into them. They were really warm and a very nice dark blue, which is why Kurt had initially bought them. Unfortunately, they were too small for his hands, so he'd never worn them before, even though they were a little stretchy. On Blaine's hands they were perfect.

"Okay then, let's go." He said, opening the door for Blaine and directing him into the passenger's seat of his Navigator.

The air outside was cold, and the howling wind didn't exactly improve that. Blaine was shivering by the time they were seated in the car.

"If you want to I can turn on the seat heating." Kurt offered.

"What's a seat heating?" Blaine asked, shivering.

"It erm… well it makes the car seat get warm, it's really nice. I'll put it on for both of us, just tell me if you don't like it and I'll turn it off, okay?" He flicked two switches on the control panel and pulled out of the driveway.

Half a minute later Blaine gasped in surprise and leaned forward, looking at his seat in disbelief.

"Do you like it?" Kurt asked.

Blaine smiled in excitement, leaning back against his seat again. "It's nice." He said with an excited tone in his voice. "It feels nice on the bruises on my back." He added with a tone of surprise after a while.

"That's good." Kurt said smiling, but focused on the road.

They arrived at the doctor's office 15 minutes early. There was no secretary at the reception desk when they entered and the entrance hall was only dimly lit. Kurt wondered if the secretary even knew the doctor was seeing patients after hours.

Blaine kept close to Kurt as they walked, his eyes firmly fixed on the ground. For a moment Kurt was tempted to wrap an arm around the other boy's shoulders, but after what had just happened in the entrance hall at home he knew it would be a terrible idea.

"Are you alright?" Kurt asked as they made their way towards the waiting room. Blaine looked up at him startled, but nodded.

Kurt opened the waiting room's door.

The room was brightly lit in contrast to the front room, so it took his eyes a second to adjust properly, when they did Kurt was surprised to see they weren't the only occupants of the waiting area. Two boys were sitting in chairs next to each other on the opposite side of the room. Kurt guessed they were about the same age as himself and Blaine. They were looking at the new arrivals.

"Hi." Kurt gave an awkward wave and received two equally awkward waves in return. Blaine was still standing next to him, looking at the ground. Kurt helped him out of his coat and hug both of their coats onto a coatrack next to the door.

"Here, sit down with me." Kurt said, closing the waiting room door behind them and directing Blaine to a chair while taking up the adjoining one himself. Blaine sat stiffly, eyes on the floor. Kurt knew it had to be due to some sort of 'proper slave behaviour in public places' training, but he didn't have the heart to tell Blaine he should stop. He could tell Blaine was nervous enough without Kurt criticizing his behaviour.

Kurt's focus was pulled from Blaine by the sound of quiet whispers from across the room. He looked up in time to see the boys on the other side of the room look away.

Not quite knowing what to do with himself, he picked up a magazine from the chair next to his and opened it at a random page. The whispering across the room resumed as soon as he looked away.

The unsettling feeling of being watched was making him shift nervously in his seat. He looked up again and was met with the sight of the boys frantically whispering to each other again.

Belatedly he wondered if he should have been more careful with how he treated Blaine, but all he had done since they entered the room was tell him to sit. Should he have made Blaine sit on the floor? But if they were judging him for treating his slave too nicely, why were they at the doctor's office at this hour anyway? Then again, neither of them looked like a slave, so maybe they were emergency patients or something.

He looked at them again. One of them was tall, thin looking even in his coat, with blonde hair that reminded him of Sam's. The other one was shorter and stockier, with dark hair and currently with a pleading look on his face. Frowning, he looked back down into his magazine.

Kurt stiffened when after another minute of whispering the boys abandoned their seats and made their way across the room.

He tossed the magazine back onto the table and stood up as well, shielding Blaine from the gaze of the approaching boys. Kurt wasn't sure what they wanted, but he was pretty sure he could take them both in a fight if necessary.

The blonde boy came to a halt in front of Kurt, while the dark haired boy remained a step behind.

"Hi." the blonde boy said, squaring his shoulders "I'm Jeff. I was hoping that maybe you'd allow our slaves to interact." He pointed towards the boy behind him and now that Kurt saw him up close he could see a brand peeking out over the boy's scarf. The boy really was a slave. What the hell was going on?

"What do you mean 'interact'?" Kurt asked warily, crossing his arms before his chest. Jeff swallowed and looked back at the boy behind him. Kurt felt excluded from whatever sort of telepathic conversation the two of them had within the mere seconds their glance lasted.

Kurt frowned, Jeff wasn't really treating the dark-haired boy like a slave. In fact, Kurt hadn't thought either of them was a slave when he had looked at them earlier. Jeff interrupted his thought process.

"I would really appreciate it if you'd allow your slave to talk to mine. You see," Jeff seemed to be thinking hard "Nick here, doesn't get much chance to talk to another slave because we live …erm… far, far away from… erm…" Kurt didn't know why, but the boy was failing miserably at coming up with a lie for him.

"Blaine, do you know either of these gentlemen?" He asked, turning around to face Blaine and stepping out of the way slightly, so as not to block Blaine's view of the boys.

Blaine looked up for the first time since they entered the room; he looked at Jeff in confusion, but then his eyes flared in recognition as they landed on the other slave.

"Nick!" He gasped, a bright smile instantly appearing on his face. Kurt sighed in relief; he had been really worried they were in trouble for a second.

"You know him." He stated the obvious. "You wanna catch up?"

Blaine looked at him uncertainly for a moment but then nodded enthusiastically. Kurt smiled and stepped out of the way.

"Careful with his back." He warned in the last possible second as Nick breezed past him and pulled Blaine into his arms, just in time to stop Nick from patting Blaine's back. Blaine hugged Nick back with equal force, burying his face in the slightly taller boy's shoulder.

Kurt tore his eyes away for a second to look at Jeff who was smiling brightly at the scene in front of him. "So I take it they know each other?" Kurt asked.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah! Oh man, I really thought we were in trouble there for a second." He bumped Kurt's shoulder amicably.

Kurt gave a breathy laugh. "Yeah, me too. So how do you two know each other?"

"We had the same owner for a few months." Nick explained, still holding Blaine close. "We shared a bunk bed." He pulled Blaine away from himself and looked at him at arms' length, his happy grin turning into a frown and he looked at Kurt nervously and then shot a pleading look at Jeff.

"You didn't… you didn't do this to him... right?" Jeff asked.

"NO!" Blaine interrupted before Jeff could finish his question, seemingly startled at his own volume he lowered his voice. "No, he didn't." He promised, looking from Jeff to Nick. "Kurt saved me from the market. He's been nothing but good to me." Blaine looked at Kurt and in a whisper added "I wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for him."

Nick seemed convinced and pulled Blaine in for another hug, when the waiting room's door opened and Dr. Holland walked in on the scene.

"Oh." She said surprised at the scene that greeted her, but smiling softly. "Hello Blaine, Kurt. I'm glad you could make it. I see you met some friends?" Jeff nodded, bumping Kurt's shoulder again.

Blaine and Nick reluctantly untangled themselves and turned to face the doctor.

"I'm ready to see you now, Nick." She said, gesturing towards the door.

"Here, give me your number." Kurt said, holding out his phone to Jeff. "And I'll ring you right now, so you have mine. We can meet some other time if Blaine and Nick want." Both boys nodded eagerly and watched their owners exchange phone numbers, before Jeff and Nick followed the doctor out of the room.

Blaine was looking after them with a bright smile and teary eyes for a minute, before abruptly turning to Kurt. "I can see him again?" He asked as though Jeff's and Kurt's conversation had only just registered in his mind.

"You can." Kurt assured him, smiling at Blaine's expression.

"Thank you, Kurt."

The silence that followed was slightly uncomfortable, at least to Kurt, but Blaine didn't seem to notice. "So… you and Nick used to live together?" Kurt asked tentatively, on the one hand not wanting to burst Blaine's happy bubble, but on the other hand wanting to satisfy his own curiosity about Blaine's past owner, at least one of them.

"Yes, Kurt. We had the same master." Blaine answered and allowed Kurt to guide him back into his abandoned seat.

"What was it like there?" Kurt pressed on.

"It was great!" He said, much to Kurt's surprise. "We got beds there and food three times a day."

"That's good." Kurt agreed. "Was this with your first master?"

Blaine stiffened instantly and shook his head vigorously. "No, Kurt. He was my third master, but they didn't tell him that at the market, they put me in with the 50% off."

Kurt nodded in understanding. Paperwork on slaves was as good as non-existent, so it was common practice to try and sell slaves for higher prices if they could be passed off as 'newer'.

"Would you tell me about him?" Kurt asked, watching Blaine closely.

"He was nice. There were twelve of us slaves at all times, he called us his "Warblers" and got us matching clothes." Blaine bit his lips. "But he got bored fast and when he got bored he sold one of us and bought a new Warbler instead. But he kept me for three whole months."

He exclaimed the last part as though it was a big accomplishment, and to Blaine it was.

Blaine's expression had saddened and Kurt felt like hitting himself for causing Blaine to stop smiling like he had 5 minutes ago.

"I'm keeping you, you know." Kurt said firmly. "As long as you want to stay with me, you can."

Blaine looked at him, his face contorting as though he was in pain. "Please." He pleaded.

"What? What is it?" Kurt asked, startled by the pain in Blaine's eyes as the boy blinked rapidly to keep the wetness in his eyes at bay.

"I know I have no right to ask for anything, but please, Kurt, please don't tell me things like that." He swallowed hard.

"Things like what?" Kurt asked, confused.

"Beautiful ideas like that."

Kurt felt paralyzed for a moment, not knowing what to do or say. The hitch in Blaine's breath brought him back.

"I'm not lying to you." He said, his voice shaky "I won't sell you or give you away. I'm keeping you. You're staying with me. For as long as you can stand me."

"What if I don't want to leave ever?" Blaine asked so quietly that Kurt almost didn't hear him. He lowered his head but Kurt caught his chin softly and forced him to look back up at him.

"Then I'm never saying goodbye to you." Kurt answered with as steady a voice as he could muster, looking straight into Blaine's eyes.

It was like he felt something give. He could almost see it in Blaine's eyes, but he felt it in his chest more than anything. Before he knew what he was doing he was opening his arms for the other boy and was rewarded with an armful of Blaine.

Blaine tentatively wrapped his arms around Kurt's chest and allowed himself to be enclosed in a hug. His body felt fragile in Kurt's arms and more than ever Kurt knew that he had to be infinitely careful with Blaine if he didn't want him to break.

"You're safe." Kurt whispered into Blaine's hair where he had pressed his face. He carefully ran his hand over Blaine's left shoulder where he knew Blaine wasn't hurt and dragged the fingers of his other hand gently through the curls in the nape of Blaine's neck.

Blaine was shaking against him, so hard it almost felt as though he was vibrating. However he didn't let go, so Kurt continued to let him muffle his sobs in his shoulder.

After a few minutes he caught himself whispering comforting nonsense in Blaine's ear over and over. "You're safe. I'm keeping you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Eventually the shaking stopped and he felt Blaine draw in a deep calming breath. When Blaine loosened his grip Kurt did the same, allowing Blaine to retreat.

"You're okay." Kurt assured him when Blaine looked as though he might try and apologize. "You're fine."

Kurt's head was swimming with relief; he could tell he gotten something right, something really important, even though he didn't know what it was.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Blaine took the tissue Kurt offered him and dried his tears, careful with his black eye before blowing his nose.

Minutes passed in companionable silence during which Blaine's breathing evened out and his eyes were starting to look less puffy.

By the time Dr. Holland called for them, Blaine was as calm and collected as Kurt had ever seen him.

Smiling kindly, she directed them towards the examination room and asked Blaine to change into a hospital gown behind a privacy partition.

"Would you like Kurt to stay here with you for the examination, dear?" She asked.

"Yes, please, Madam." Blaine answered from behind the partition. The doctor smiled at Kurt and picked up a clipboard from her desk. Blaine emerged a minute later, clad in a blue hospital gown that was huge on him, like everything else. The doctor instructed him to sit down on the examination table and pulled up a chair for Kurt to sit down next to the table before grabbing a seat for herself.

"Well, Blaine, I can already see you're looking a lot better than you did two days ago. I'm glad. You're being an excellent nurse, Kurt." She winked at him good naturedly.

"Now I'm sure you want to hear the test results." At Blaine's frantic nod she quickly continued. "Your blood work came back positive for syphilis I'm afraid, but you're in the first stage of the disease, which means that a dose of Bicillin will clear that up. What's gonna happen now is, I'm going to examine you first. Then I'll inject two shots of the medicine into your buttocks; it'll hurt a bit, but not for long. There will be follow up blood tests. The first one will be scheduled in three months and then every three months after that. Those are necessary to make sure the syphilis has completely cleared up. If you have sexual contact during this period of time, make sure to keep it safe: use condoms." Kurt felt himself blush slightly at the topic, but kept his face straight, hoping the change in color would go unnoticed.

"At the end, I'm going to take an X-ray of your chest and upper arm, so we can see if your previous breaks have healed properly. Does that sound like an okay plan?" She asked. Blaine nodded in agreement, clearly baffled at her question, but smiling.

"Great, thank you. Now while I'm already sitting here, I'm going to start with your knees, okay?" Blaine lifted the hospital gown to his thighs without being asked, earning himself a smile of approval from the doctor.

Gently she prodded along the edges of the swelling, observing Blaine's reaction to various touches. "Is it more or less painful to you than it was two days ago, Blaine?"

"Less painful, Madam. At the market I had to be on my knees most of the time for a few weeks, but I've only been on my knees once since Friday." He explained.

"That's good. The fluid build-up seems to have gone down as well. If you stay off your knees it may just go back to normal all by itself, but if it doesn't we'll have to figure out what to do. I want an update on this in two weeks from either of you." She insisted and Kurt nodded, making a mental note to check Blaine's knees again soon.

"Okay, let's move on. Your face is healing very nicely, that's great. Please drop the top half of the gown." Blaine untied the string that kept the gown tied around his neck and obediently exposed his upper body, shivering a little.

"I'm sorry, I know this isn't pleasant, dear." Dr. Holland said sympathetically. "I'll try and be quick." She examined the healing bruises on the front of Blaine's torso and seemed satisfied with the result. "Yeah, that's looking good too. I'm going to move on to your back now, just stay seated like this."

She walked around the examination table, for a good view of Blaine's back.

"I'm going to remove the bandages now." She warned Blaine, putting on a fresh pair of examination gloves and making quick work of the gauze on his back.

Kurt offered his hand and to his surprise Blaine took it without a moment's hesitation.

"No sign of infection." The doctor declared after a few minutes of checking the cuts. "You did a fantastic job, Kurt, they're healing well. Whatever you're doing, keep it up and they should be fading within the next three weeks." Blaine smiled happily at the news.

"Now, I'm afraid it's time to move on to the less pleasant part. Blaine, I'm going to have to ask you to lie down on your stomach. Kurt, could you move this chair to the end of the table? You'll have an easier time providing moral support, if Blaine still wants you to stay?"

Blaine nodded instantly.

"Okay then. I'm going to expose your buttocks now." Blaine nodded bracing himself. Kurt fixed his eyes on Blaine's face, making absolutely sure he wasn't looking anywhere else.

"You will feel two injections, one into each buttock. They will hurt a little, but I would still ask you to try and relax as much as you can, alright?"

"Yes, Madam." Blaine answered, face contorting a little. Kurt offered him his other hand and Blaine took it gratefully, allowing Kurt to interlock their fingers.

"It's okay, I got you." Kurt whispered encouragingly, earning a brave nod from Blaine.

He could see the moment the needle found its target in Blaine's face, but while it was obviously painful, Blaine still looked relieved as though he had expected it to be far worse.

"I'm going to put a band aid on now." The doctor announced, still keeping up her running commentary for which Kurt was eternally grateful, since it seemed to calm Blaine.

The second injection that followed a minute later wasn't received with as much of a cringe as the first.

When it was over Blaine slumped on the table, resting his cheek against the hard leather, covered in protective paper.

"You did very well, Blaine." Dr. Holland praised him, while covering him back up. "We're almost done too. Please follow me into the next room."

The boys got up, Blaine with some difficulty now that he was trying to put pressure on neither his knees nor his butt and made to follow her. She stopped at the door.

"I'm sorry, Blaine, but Kurt can't stay with you for the X-ray, but I promise nothing bad is going to happen." Blaine looked at Kurt uncertainly. Kurt just nodded encouragingly, so Blaine followed the doctor out the door, leaving Kurt alone in the examination room.

Kurt sighed, stretching his stiff muscles which resulted in the grumbling of his stomach. That was when he realized he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Shaking his head at his own neglect of himself he sat back down in his chair, where he had been holding Blaine's hands only seconds ago, and waited.

Kurt could still feel the phantom touch of Blaine's curls against his neck from their earlier hug and absent-mindedly ran his hand over the skin there. He brushed against his collar and felt the slight dampness there; his heart clenching in sympathy. He wanted to hug Blaine again, tight and maybe in a less awkward position than they had been in, sitting in those waiting room chairs.

Blaine wanted to stay with him even though he'd only known him for a couple of days, Kurt felt oddly warm at the thought.

An onslaught of possible scenarios assaulted his brain.

All through his teenage years he had wanted nothing more than to leave Ohio far behind, to get out and move to a big city, but with his senior year came college applications and with the college applications came the doubts.

The thought of leaving this town behind and to live on his own had been so appealing for so long; he didn't even really dare confess to himself that the idea scared him now. Kurt loved his dad more than anything in the world and he'd grown to love Carole and maybe even Finn over the past two years and something had changed. He wasn't used to fending for himself anymore, not the way he had been when it was just him and his dad, and now that he knew what having a family felt like, he wasn't sure if he could make do without them.

But maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have to fend for himself; maybe Blaine could come to New York with him, if he actually managed to get into a school there.

Of course that wasn't really an option. His family could hardly afford to send Kurt to University as it was and sending a slave with him just to keep him company wasn't an option if there was ever going to be a chance for Blaine to earn his freedom.

He jumped when the door was opened and the doctor led Blaine back into the room.

Dr. Holland motioned for Blaine to take a seat again. He winced a little as he sat down, but quickly schooled his face into a somewhat neutral expression.

"Alright, so I took a look at Blaine's X-ray. It seems like the fractures have healed well enough on their own, so there'll be no need to correct them." Blaine rubbed his right upper arm subconsciously, nodding at the doctor's words.

Kurt swallowed. He was dying to ask just how many fractures they were talking about, but the uncomfortable look on Blaine's face stopped him, for now.

"So overall, it's looking a lot better than I could have hoped for." She concluded, smiling brightly at Blaine. "I would like you to keep me updated, Kurt, and call me if you need something, okay? You're doing great, Blaine."

"Thank you." Kurt said at the same time as Blaine said "Thank you, Madam."

"Would you mind getting our coats from the waiting room, Blaine?" Kurt asked, cringing internally at giving an order. Blaine hopped off the examination table happily and scurried out of the room.

"Did they- does he have- were there a lot of breaks?" He asked hastily, knowing Blaine would be back in a few seconds.

"Quite a few, I'm afraid, none of them looked professionally treated, he was lucky they healed this well on their own." She sighed sadly. "Keep looking after him, alright? I'm not gonna charge you for this visit, I just can't, the poor boy."

Blaine came back, with their coats in his arms just as Kurt thanked the doctor.

They took turns helping each other into their respective coats and, after another round of 'goodbye's and 'thank you's, they made their way back to the car.

Kurt could see Blaine bite his lower lip as he sat down.

"Does it hurt a lot?" He asked, concerned.

Blaine looked puzzled for a moment before hastily shaking his head "No, it's not bad." He answered before nervously adding "Maybe- if it pleases you- maybe the seat heating could stay off?"

"Sure, whatever you prefer." Kurt switched the dials back to off before starting the car. "Put on your seatbelt, please."

They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Kurt realized he had something to discuss with Blaine.

"So, I have to go to school tomorrow morning." He began. Blaine nodded, sitting up straighter and tilting his head a little as if he was getting ready to absorb everything Kurt was about to tell him.

"Dad and Carole are going to work and Finn's going to school too, so you'll be home alone until about 3 pm."

"What would you like me to do in your absence?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know, I mean, I think you should sleep as much as you can and …erm… there's the TV and loads of books in my room and the living room. Can you read?" He asked just to be sure.

"Yes, Kurt, my brother taught me how when I was 5."

"Oh… that's great." Kurt said, glancing away from the road and at Blaine for a moment, feeling a little uncertain. He wanted to ask about Blaine's family, but for most slaves it was a rather painful subject and he really didn't want to bring up any more bad memories right now.

"So yeah, there's that, maybe that can keep you occupied for a while."

"Should I not complete any chores, Kurt?" Blaine asked, sounding slightly confused.

"No, no, absolutely not, maybe in a few weeks, when you're a bit stronger, but right now… just get better, okay?"

"Yes, Kurt, I'm sorry, Kurt. I'll be much better, I promise." Blaine said quietly.

"What, no, I meant healthy, focus on getting healthy, you don't have to do anything better, okay? That's not what I meant, I just want you healthy."

"Oh." He could feel Blaine's gaze on him and stole a glance at the boy in the passenger seat. His eyes were big in the dim light emitted by the console, the look on his face awestruck.

He pulled up in the Hummel-Hudson's driveway a minute later and hurried Blaine inside, where it was warm.

"I don't know about you," he said as he pulled off his shoes "but I'm really tired. Are you okay with heading to bed early?"

"Yes, Kurt. Of course." Blaine answered, hanging Kurt's borrowed coat on the rack. He pulled off the gloves as well. "Erm- Kurt?" Blaine asked, catching his attention, holding out the gloves to him uncertainly.

"Oh, those are yours." Kurt said, shrugging his own coat off.

"I- I don't understand, Kurt." Blaine said, still holding the gloves out to him.

Kurt closed Blaine's fingers around the pair of gloves, smiling softly. "They belong to you now. My hands are much too big for them, I could never wear them, but they fit perfectly on you, so you keep them."

Blaine's eyes went comically wide as he pulled the blue gloves against his chest, looking at Kurt disbelievingly. "Thank you." He gasped, when Kurt made no motion to take them back.

Once Blaine was safe and warm in bed, Kurt found himself sitting in the living room with a stack of post-it notes. Burt and Carole seemed to have gone to bed early as well, but he could still hear video game noises emitting from Finn's bedroom, so he knew he wasn't the only one awake in the house.

'Read anything you like' He wrote on the first post-it, before he got up and stuck it onto one of the wooden boards of the bookshelf. 'You can watch whatever you want', the blue post it on the TV said.

'Have whatever you like, but make sure it's stomach friendly' got stuck on the freezer and once more on the basket of bread.

Kurt moved on to the bathroom and smiled to himself as he wrote 'Have all the warm water you like' and stuck it to the bathtub. He wondered if he should put up anything else, but he couldn't really think of anything, so he wrote one more post-it.

As silently as he could he opened the door to Blaine's room and stuck it just above the light switch. He allowed himself a last quick glance at Blaine's sleeping form, before he retreated back into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind himself and leaving

'Good morning Blaine,

I'll be home by 3 pm, call me if you need anything:

701 – 555 - 107.

I hope you have a good day.

– Kurt'

for Blaine to find first thing in the morning.

Kurt hadn't dreaded going to school this much since the previous year when the football team, led by one David Karofsky, had made it their mission in life to make his every day as miserable as possible. That is, until Karofsky had a sudden change of heart and stopped targeting Kurt altogether. He still didn't know what suddenly made his former bully transfer schools, but it didn't matter to Kurt any more.

All he wanted at the moment was to stay home with Blaine. The slave had still been asleep when Kurt and Finn had left the house together half an hour ago. In the back of his head Kurt silently hoped that Blaine would sleep through the day until after school, but he knew it was an unrealistic thought.

"See you in glee club." Finn called, hurrying into the school to meet up with the guys before class. Kurt took his time locking up the car and heading into the building. He caught himself ducking by the dumpster, even though no one had tossed him in for over two years.

Checking his clock he realized that they had arrived at school a little later than usual, so he sped up his steps to get his books out of his locker and make it to class on time.

He had just turned a corner when two bodies collided with his, sending Kurt tumbling to the floor.

"Watch where you're going, homo!" A voice above him snarled as its owner walked past Kurt. He looked up to see Rick 'the stick' Nelson and his stepbrother Reggie Salazar Jr. retreat down the hallway.

"Do those mullets run in both your families, or is it one of those habitual things like your periods synching up!?" Kurt called after them, rage bubbling up inside of him at the sight of the two of them giving each other a high five.

He pushed himself to his feet and hurried to his locker, barely making it to math class on time.

"Where have you been?" Rachel whispered, as he sunk into the seat next to hers the moment the bell rang and the teacher closed the classroom door behind himself.

"Late and then hit by idiocy." He mumbled, opening his book. Rachel frowned for a moment before putting on a cheerful face and giving the teacher her full attention.

McKinley's curriculum wasn't exactly challenging, but Rachel still liked to make a good impression on every single teacher. Kurt had asked her about it once and had been punished by a half hour long Rachel-Berry-monologue about the importance of letters of recommendation, he had not questioned her school related motives ever since.

Luckily for him, Rachel took up all of the teacher's attention, allowing Kurt to idly sketch a blazer in his notebook. Kurt's thoughts weren't focused on his design though. He was too busy wondering whether Blaine was still asleep or if he had had breakfast yet.

Kurt knew that, being a slave, Blaine was probably used to being left alone at home while his owners were out for work. Even if he wasn't, Blaine was only a year younger than him, so Kurt knew that Blaine should be able to take care of himself for half a day. Still, he couldn't help but worry about the beaten up boy in their guestroom.

"Mister Hummel, would you care to grace us with your mental presence?"

Kurt looked up from his doodle, glancing at the board for a few seconds before answering. "F(x) is positive for all real values of x except for x = -2." The teacher gave an annoyed huff before refocusing his attention back to the blackboard. Kurt sighed in relief, deciding to save the doodling for home economics class. He was just about to find a blank page in his notebook to write on when the bell rang.

Quinn was beside Rachel's desk, gathering up her belongings before Kurt had even had the time to put his pen away. For a fee, slaves were allowed to silently sit in the back of their owner's class during lessons, so they could immediately attend their owner's needs after the lesson ended. Hardly any students made use of this possibility, but Rachel Berry did not carry more than one of her own books.

"Good morning, Mister Hummel." Quinn mumbled in passing before running to catch up with Rachel, who hadn't bothered to wait for her slave. Kurt suppressed the intense desire to facepalm at her actions and settled for occasionally glaring at her during the next class they had together.

Alongside with boredom, home economics class provided Kurt with an infinite amount of time to come up with new insults about mullets, due to the fact that he had the misfortune of being seated right behind Rick Nelson. Though that day, the insults just wouldn't come to him.

All he could do was glare at the back or the hockey players head and wonder if he had ever laid a hand on Blaine. If Kurt's experiences with him were any indication, he had. The thought made his stomach coil. Kurt realized that he had no idea how long Rick's family had had Blaine, but considering Rick, like Kurt, had been about 13 years old when Blaine was first sold, he couldn't have been involved in whatever happened to Blaine…could he?

Kurt felt nauseated thinking about other people's hands on Blaine. He tried to force the thoughts from his head by focusing on the drawing of the blazer in his notebook once more. It didn't work.

By the time lunchtime rolled around Kurt couldn't contain his anxiety any more. He ditched Rachel and Quinn by ducking into an empty classroom and pulled out his phone.

He dialled the number of the Hummel-Hudson house phone, listening to the dial tone in anticipation.

There was no answer, the phone just kept ringing.

Kurt took a deep breath, everything was alright. It had to be, Blaine was probably just asleep. He hit re-dial just to be sure.

"You've reached the Hummel-Hudson's," his father's voice answered the phone "please leave a message after-"

Kurt ended the call, shoving the cell phone back into his pocket. "Shit." He cursed quietly, picking up his bag from the desk he had placed it on and making his way to the cafeteria after all. Blaine probably just wasn't sure whether or not he was allowed to answer the phone, Kurt figured, trying to remember whether or not he had given Blaine instructions on that.

Rachel had saved him a seat next to her in the cafeteria, where she was currently eating with the other members of the New Directions. Kurt looked around the table, smiling fondly.

As far as show choirs went they were pretty pathetic; they had never even managed to get enough members to compete in an actual competition. Even so, the people sitting at the table felt a bit like family to Kurt, and not just because Finn was sitting with them.

He was so lost in thought that he almost stepped on Quinn, who was sitting at Rachel's feet.

"Oh my- Quinn!" Kurt exclaimed, pulling his foot back at the last possible second. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!"

"It's alright, Mister Hummel." Quinn answered in a nonchalant tone.

"I can't believe Figgins keeps insisting on the 'slaves on the floor' rule." He said to Rachel as he stepped over Quinn to sit down in the chair next to her. Rachel shrugged. "What can you do?" She asked rhetorically.

"I wish they'd at least allow pillows." Tina mumbled from the other side of the table, she didn't look up though, and kept her somewhat puffy eyes focused on her almost empty plate.

"Tina, are you al-" Kurt started.

"What glittery hole have you been hiding in all day?" Santana interrupted him by arriving at the table and dumping her lunch tray opposite Kurt's seat. She was looking straight at Kurt and while she spoke in her usual snarky voice, but by the intense stare she shot him Kurt knew she actually wanted to talk to him, but not in front of everyone.

"Asked the girl who has 4 minutes left to finish her lunch?" Kurt asked. Santana glared at him and started eating her serving of pasta with remarkable speed. "I had to call home." He added. Santana looked up at that, and after assessing his expression, gave a knowing nod.

"Me too." She said, focusing on her food again but unable to supress a little smile.

Mercedes and Artie had abandoned their initial conversation in favour of giving Kurt and Santana confused looks. Kurt couldn't blame them; it wasn't as though Santana usually made a habit of chatting with him when she didn't have to, at least not in public.

"So…" Mercedes said as the odd silence at the table stretched on. "Sam is dancing on Saturday, anyone up for joining me to come watch?"

"I'm coming with." Tina said without a moment's hesitation, earning a pleased look from Mercedes.

"What about you, Kurt?" Mercedes asked.

"Oh no" Kurt shook his head. "Once was more than enough, thank you very much."

Sam was Mercedes' slave and trained in entertainment. Mercedes' father had gotten him as a Christmas present for her three years ago. Sam had just been put on the market with nothing but a month of basic entertainment training.

Basic entertainment training, Kurt had learned, consisted mostly of dancing, singing and lessons in easy magic tricks unless an owner required their slave to acquire a different skillset. Unlike most slaves Kurt had met though, Sam honestly enjoyed it. Enjoyed it to the point even, where he had asked Mercedes if maybe she would allow him to perform for an audience every now and then.

While Kurt would never claim to understand the odd relationship Mercedes and Sam had, he knew Mercedes couldn't say no to Sam's goofy puppy-faces, which is how it came to be that once every other week Mercedes rented Sam to a strip club in Westerville for a dance performance.

She had dragged Kurt along to watch the show with her once. He had enjoyed the dancing, but the somewhat seedy club was absolutely not his scene and he didn't even want to consider what was probably happening in the closed-off booths where people could buy private dances.

Sam was not for rent, Mercedes would never allow it, which is why she always stayed at the club and kept a close eye on her boy.

Tina was Mercedes' constant companion on those Saturdays, Kurt had never figured out why she put up with the trips though. When Kurt had joined them that one time, Tina had looked close to tears most of the night, much like she did now.

The bell rang just as he was about to attempt to ask Tina if everything was alright again.

"Tina, are you-"

"Walk me to class, Hummel." Santana interrupted, dragging him out of his seat.

Students were filing out of the cafeteria in a hurry around them as Santana linked her arm with his and dragged him along. He threw a glance back at the table, where Artie was rubbing Tina's arm in a comforting manner.

"How is he doing?" She asked quietly, redirecting his attention to her.

"Better, how's Brittany?" Santana smiled an uncharacteristically happy smile. "She's doing great." She said. "She's really worried about your hobbit though. Do you think there's any way I could bring her over for a short visit after school?"

"Sure." Kurt agreed. Blaine had seemed comfortable with Brittany in the car, Kurt figured being around her might be good for him. "Not today though, I'm not sure how he's taking to being alone at home. Maybe tomorrow?"

Santana agreed and hurried off to her next class.

Later, Kurt didn't remember a word of what any of his teachers had said that day. After sitting through another two lessons he decided to skip Glee club and made his way to the parking lot. With a quick look over his shoulder he got into the car and drove home, taking deep calming breaths. Blaine wasn't a child. He could be home alone for a while. Kurt really hoped he wasn't mistaken about that.

The driveway was empty like Kurt had expected, his parents and Finn were still out. He pulled up in the driveway and hurried to the front door, desperate to know Blaine was alright and getting ready to feel stupid for ever thinking otherwise.

He unlocked the door quickly and ran into the house. Two steps into the front room, he tripped over Blaine and went crashing to the floor, barely keeping himself from full-on face planting.

"Ow!" He groaned rolling onto his side, the shock of the impact paralyzing him for a moment.

"Kurt, Kurt! I'm so sorry!" Blaine cried, kneeling next to him and trying to pull him into a sitting position. "Are you alright, Sir?" He asked anxiously, worry flickering in his eyes.

"I'm okay." Kurt said, helping Blaine pull him in a sitting position. "Get off your knees, you'll hurt yourself." He reminded Blaine, who dropped to his side so his weight rested on his side, rather than on his knees. He started frantically brushing imaginary dust off Kurt's sleeves where he had landed on the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt, please, I didn't mean to-" He said, brushing more urgently. Kurt gentyl caught his hand.

"It's alright, I'm okay, nothing happened. Calm down, okay? You're okay, I'm not mad." Blaine took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Kurt." He said, looking up at Kurt. "Are you hurt?" He asked a moment later.

"I'm fine, what about you? I must have kicked you pretty hard when I tripped, are you alright?" Blaine's hand subconsciously went to his thigh where Kurt had tripped over him.

"I'm not hurt." He said.

"Good." Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. He felt the tension of the past hours and the shock from the fall slowly subside. "What were you doing on the floor?" He asked.

"I was waiting for you, Kurt." Blaine said, nervously fumbling with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm sorry, Kurt, I looked all over the house, but I couldn't find the notes with my chores on them." He pulled the notes Kurt had written the previous day from the pocket of his sweatpants. "I only found the rewards." He held them out for Kurt to take as though they couldn't possibly be meant for him.

"Oh Blaine, no, there are no chores, at least not at the moment. These notes" he pointed at the post-it's in Blaine's hands "they were supposed to make you feel comfortable, but I guess that didn't work."

"I'm sorry, Kurt." By the look on Blaine's face, he could tell he was more confused than anything. Kurt sighed.

"Don't be, let's get off the floor. Have you eaten yet?"

Blaine shook his head. "No, Kurt. I haven't done anything useful yet."

"You don't have to do anything to earn food. Come on, let's get you some breakfast." He pushed himself off the floor and watched Blaine follow his example. The boy was swaying precariously though, not quite finding his balance.

"Come on, you need to eat, you're too thin to get away with not eating for so long." He guided Blaine into the kitchen and sat him down on the table. "Be honest, are you feeling dizzy?" He asked.

"A little bit, Kurt." Blaine answered.

"Okay, let's get you some food. You really need to eat, even when I'm not here. You're too thin as it is." He turned his back to Blaine and started rummaging through the bread basket.

"I'm sorry, Kurt."

Kurt let out a calming breath, abandoning his search for toast to steady himself with both hands on the counter. "Don't be, okay?" His said in a much calmer voice. "It's not your fault, I just… I was worried." He turned to face Blaine and gave him the most encouraging smile he could manage. "I just need to know that you're alright when I'm not here." Blaine's expression was unreadable, but he nodded.

"How about we try toast with butter today?" At Blaine's eager expression, Kurt pulled out the bread and put it in the toaster. "Do you like honey?" He asked the other boy, pulling a glass of it out of the cupboard.

"I've never had any, Sir." Blaine admitted before adding. "But it always smelled good."

"You've never-?" Kurt cut himself off and pulled a spoon from one of the drawers. He scooped up half a spoon of the viscous liquid, twirled the spoon around and held it in front of Blaine's mouth. "Try it."

Blaine's lips parted and he leaned forward, capturing the spoon with his mouth. Kurt let go of the spoon and watched Blaine's eyes go wide with delight. A soft appreciative moan escaped from Blaine's throat and he took a hold of the spoon's handle to pull it out for a second before shoving it back into his mouth to suck the residual honey from it. Kurt felt a light blush creeping into his cheeks at the sound.

"You like it?" Kurt asked smiling in amusement at Blaine's excited expression. He wondered if anyone had ever given Blaine any chocolate before.

"Yes, Kurt." Blaine said, nodding eagerly.

"You want some on your toast?" Kurt asked, just as the toasted bread popped out of the toaster.

"I can have more?" Blaine asked. Kurt buttered the toast and added a generous amount of honey on top, making sure it wasn't too much, so the liquid wouldn't flow over the edge.

"Here you go, eat slowly, okay?" He said, placing the toast in front of Blaine at the table before putting another two slices in the toaster.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Kurt watched Blaine eat from the corner of his eyes to make sure he was eating slowly, but also because the astonished expression on Blaine's face was endearing, though he seemed to be getting tired rapidly.

"I'm sorry the notes were confusing." Kurt said after a while. "I just wanted you to know that you could do all those things even if I'm not home. It's not something you have to earn in any way. These things are privileges that no one will take away from you. You can always have food, take a shower and read. You're allowed to entertain yourself." He explained.

Blaine put down his toast and swallowed before answering. "I'm sorry I didn't do as I was told, Kurt, I thought they were rewards for after the chores."

"It's okay, you know now." Kurt said, finishing his toast and putting the plate in the sink. "Did you hear the phone ringing?" He asked when his gaze landed on the blinking light of the answering machine.

Blaine nodded slowly. "Yes, Kurt, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to answer it." Just like Kurt had suspected.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you that you can." He watched Blaine supress a yawn, which resulted in a scrunched up expression.

"When did you wake up?" Kurt asked.

"When Mistress Carole left, Kurt." He said. That was a good 6 hours ago, Kurt thought. Blaine hadn't been awake that long ever since Kurt had brought him home three days ago. It made sense, given how thin he was. Kurt wondered how long Blaine had been sitting by the door, waiting for him.

"Do you maybe want to take a nap? We'll have to take care of your back today, but it can wait a little longer. You look tired." Blaine assessed Kurt's expression for a moment, before nodding carefully.

"Come on then." He took Blaine's now empty plate from the table and placed it in the sink next to his own.

"Can I keep these?" Blaine asked, holding the post-it's out for Kurt to take away if he wanted.

"Of course, you can." Kurt said, gently rubbing Blaine's shoulder as he guided Blaine to his room.

Blaine all but collapsed onto the bed, eyes already drooping from exhaustion, the post-it's still clutched in his hands. He was fast asleep by the time Kurt pulled the blanket up to his neck.


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello guys!**

**I don't know how to tell you just how sorry I am for making you wait this long. This chapter isn't as long as I hoped my first chapter back would be, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**I'd like to thank my lovely beta quitedapperindeed (on tumblr) for putting up with me and helping me so much. You are amazing!**

**Thank you all for leaving so many encouraging comments for me, I read them all and I love you so much! Enjoy!**

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When Carole came home from work she found Kurt curled up on the couch, a cup of tea cradled to his chest, staring at the wall.

"Are you okay, dear?" She asked, startling Kurt out of his trance.

"Fine, I'm fine." He checked his lap for spilled tea. "How was work?"

"Oh, work was fine." Kurt watched absentmindedly as Carole shed her winter clothing. "I kept thinking about Blaine all day though, how is he doing? "

"He's asleep again… I found him by the door when I got home." Kurt put the cup he'd been holding on the coffee table.

"What do you mean, 'by the door'?" Carole asked, taking a seat on the couch and turning to face him.

"He was sitting by the door waiting for me. I…" Kurt paused, hugging a decorative pillow to his chest. "I don't know if I can do this." He wanted to say more, but he just didn't know where to start.

"What's wrong, honey?" Carole asked. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and Kurt looked up to see her face. Carole was looking at him like a mom, and Kurt couldn't help but love her for it.

"He just has all the wrong ideas and I'm not sure if I can help him." He started. "I want to, I want to help so badly, but all I do seems to be wrong and he's constantly on edge, like he's just waiting for me to beat the crap out of him and I don't know how to deal with it. I just…" a distressed noise escaped his throat "I just don't know what to do." He took a deep, shaky breath.

"Oh honey, you know you can always come to me and your dad for help right? I know your dad talked to you about leaving Blaine in your care, but he didn't mean that you're on your own. We're always here to help, he just meant we didn't want to overload Blaine with authority figures, you know?"

Carole pulled him closer and Kurt let himself settle against her, holding on to her waist.

Kurt took a few deep breaths, letting Carole's presence calm him. "I just don't want to scare him anymore."

"Well," Carole began softly, stroking his hair, "I wasn't around the last time your dad bought a slave, I can just give you educated guesses at the moment, but it seems like Blaine is used to a lot of rules, right?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

"Well then maybe, just for the time being, it might help put him at ease if he got new rules from you, since rules are familiar, right?"

He considered that for a moment. "It's worth a try, I guess, but what do I tell him?"

"Has Burt talked to you about the exam yet?" Carole asked.

"No, but I remember when Cooper had to take it."

"I'll go get some of the practice books from the garage tomorrow afternoon, so maybe you could give him a daily workload once he feels better, I'm sure that's a rule that could make him feel better, you know, things like that?"

"That sounds good." Kurt whipped his cheeks on the back of his palm, noticing his hands came back moist, he never realized he was crying. "I'll try that, and I'll call home at lunch, so he knows he can eat."

"That sounds wonderful. I'm so proud of you, honey." He felt Carole kiss the top of his head and it made him smile and hold onto her more tightly.

"Thank you." He sighed, burying his face in her shoulder again.

Kurt allowed himself to relax with his step-mother for a little while until his eyes caught the digital clock on the TV caught his eye. "We should make dinner." He sighed, extracting himself from the comforting embrace.

Dinner was done by the time Finn and Burt came home. While his parents and brother had spaghetti, Kurt decided to serve himself the same as he did Blaine, meaning another round of soup and toast. Blaine tiptoed out of his room just as Kurt was about to go fetch him, seemingly drawn out by the smell of food.

"Oh good, you're up." Kurt greeted him with a careful smile and gestured for Blaine to follow him into the kitchen. "Dinner is ready, come join us."

The dinner itself was a lot more pleasant than the one on the previous day had been. Burt and Finn were chatting enthusiastically, while Kurt and Blaine ate in almost content silence. The nap seemed to have calmed Blaine's nerves and Kurt was thankful for it. Blaine ate slowly as he had been instructed, but with a lot more enthusiasm than Kurt had seen him do before.

"Do you want some more?" Kurt asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt the conversation flowing around them. Blaine seemed to honestly contemplate the offer, but shook his head no. "Thank you, but I don't think I can, Sir."

Kurt nodded, finishing the last bite of his own toast. "There's always more later, if you want." He contemplated what to do next when it occurred to him that Blaine's bandages still needed changing. He spoke up when Burt and Finn cleared away the dishes, mostly to distract Blaine from trying to do it for them.

"Do you think you can handle a shower?" He asked. "If not we can draw another bath.."

"A shower is fine, Sir." Blaine assured him.

Blaine followed Kurt into the bathroom where Kurt quickly explained the two knobs that regulated the temperature and water pressure and left Blaine with a towel and the instruction to get a new set of pajamas to change into for after they had redressed his wounds.

Blaine did as he was told, while Kurt went to gather more bandages from the medicine cabinet for later. When he went to place them next to the bathroom sink he stopped short in the door. Blaine had taken his shirt off and was trying to reach the bandages on his back to take them off. His face scrunched up in pain from the contortion, but that was only a small part of what made Kurt halt abruptly in the door. With the way Blaine was stretching Kurt could see the bones of his rib cage and hips protruding to an extent he hadn't been aware they could. It was shocking in a way that made Kurt want to cry. He had known, logically, how skinny Blaine was. He had seen his own clothes become oversized looking on Blaine, but in the harsh artificial lighting of the bathroom and in a pose like this reality hit him hard. If Santana hadn't dragged him to that stupid market, Blaine would not be here. He wouldn't be anywhere, he would be dead, either from an injection, or hypothermia, or starvation and lying under a bridge near Marysville.

"Let me help you." Kurt stressed, hurrying over to Blaine who lowered his arms gratefully and turned his back to Kurt for better access. One of the cuts on Blaine's shoulder had torn open a little because of the strain, but otherwise his back seemed to look better for all Kurt could tell. "They're looking better." He commented as he removed the last bandage. "Shower as warm as you like, okay? And call me when you're decent." Kurt added before heading out the door.

Once outside, he didn't know what to do with himself. He heard the shower turn on behind the closed door and wondered if he could really leave Blaine alone. Kurt hadn't seen Blaine stand for longer than a minute at a time and he got tired very quickly. What if he fell? What if…

"Dude, you okay? You look like you're gonna have an anarhythm." Kurt was startled out of worrying.

"You mean an aneurysm, Finn." He corrected him gently, trying not to sound amused.

"Yeah, that. You okay?" Finn repeated his initial question.

Kurt sighed. "I don't know, I think so. Just worried, I guess." Finn gave the bathroom door an understanding glance before patting Kurt's shoulder.

"He'll be fine. You always make people better, like Burt, or that one time Rachel had that nasty cold. You're a totally awesome nurse. You know, a guy nurse. You're like the smartest guy I know, you'll make him better in no time."

Kurt couldn't help but laugh a little at Finn's rambling. "Thanks, Finn."

"Oh and Burt sent me to tell you that he brought 'the books' back from the garage. I don't know what books he means though, he said you knew." Finn suddenly remembered. "I'm supposed to get them from the car."

With that Finn hurried outside without his shoes or jacket to retrieve a big, heavy box from the trunk of his father's car while Kurt watched him, confused as to how Finn's feet didn't instantly turn into icicles.

"Where do you want me to put them?" He asked, kicking the front door shut behind him with his foot a moment later.

"Erm… my room, please."

"You got it." Finn said, heaving the box up the stairs, Kurt trailing behind him.

He thanked Finn after he put the box down on Kurt's bedroom floor, opening the lid. It was halfway filled with various school books on different topics, all of which would be subjects on the test. The test… Kurt wasn't quite sure if Blaine was ready for that conversation quite yet, maybe it would be best to wait until Blaine had gotten a little more acclimated.

The sound of the shower downstairs cut out and Kurt took it as his cue to head down again to be there when Blaine was ready.

"How badly do they hurt?" Kurt asked, carefully applying ointment to one of the deeper cuts, trying to touch the torn skin as little as possible.

Blaine was sitting on a chair in front of him, hugging the backrest to his chest for support while Kurt was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. The ointment and bandages lined up on the edge next to him.

"Not very, Kurt." Blaine assured him, not even flinching a little bit when Kurt pressed the bandage down around the cut.

When he saw Kurt frown in disbelief in the mirror he quietly added. "This really isn't so bad. I've had a lot worse, Kurt."

Kurt pressed his lips into a small line to keep himself from wincing at the thought. "I'm sorry."

Blaine looked bewildered for a moment, before schooling his features into a curious but neutral expression when he remembered that Kurt could see him in the mirror as well. "May I ask why, Kurt?" He asked carefully.

"I'm sorry someone hurt you so much that this…" He let his eyes linger on Blaine's torn up back "… doesn't even compare." Kurt swallowed heavily and went back to applying ointment to the cuts, one at a time. He wasn't satisfied with his own answer. Kurt felt as though he should say more, offer comfort and promise safety, but all his usual skill for heartfelt speeches seemed to have left him.

"I have a book for you… well, loads of books, but we're starting with one. I'll show it to you later. I thought it would be nice if you had something to do while we're all gone. Those books are really important. I'd like it if you could work through maybe a chapter a day during the week. They're small chapters and you can still read other books, if you want to. I promise there won't be any punishment if you don't manage a whole chapter, and if you ever get stuck you can ask for help. I'd just really like it if we could make this a thing."

"Of course, Kurt." Blaine sounded anxious, even though he obviously tried very hard to sound neutral and obedient.

"This isn't a test, I swear. I'm not trying to set you up or trick you into failing. They're just important preparations for …life", he decided to explain what exactly Blaine was studying for another time "since you can't go to school or anything. You'll see, they start from scratch, you'll be able to follow them. You don't have to start right away; I know you're still really tired." Kurt trailed off. Maybe he shouldn't have sprung this on Blaine like he did? He could feel himself putting pressure on Blaine that he hadn't meant to put there. He was doing this to put Blaine at ease. "I'll show you in a few minutes. Don't worry for now."

"Yes, Kurt." Blaine had immediately picked up on Kurt's uncertainty and was trying hard to gauge what was in store for him. Kurt finished treating the cuts on Blaine's back.

"I'll just check your knees, you can put your shirt on." He sat down on the floor in front of Blaine's chair. "Can I roll these up?" Kurt asked, pointing at the legs of Blaine's pants. Blaine nodded, his fingers twitching restlessly as though he wanted to take the task off Kurt's hand.

"There's something I've been wondering…" Kurt mused as he gently prodded the skin around Blaine's swollen knee "..and I'm not sure how to ask, but those men, at the market, how… why…" Kurt paused to sort out his thought process. "Why would they …" He trailed off again, but Blaine knew how to end his sentence.

"Kill me and not sell me into hard labor, Kurt?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah." Kurt confirmed quietly, looking up at Blaine carefully.

"Traders don't buy diseased slaves." Blaine began, avoiding Kurt's gaze. "I was…okay when my last owner sold me, but one of the traders … took a liking to me. We get screened every time we are bought. Three weeks ago someone was going to buy me… that's when they found out." Blaine's hands were clutching the back of the chair tightly, his eyes still averted. "They screened all the traders and found out what he did. It got him in a lot of trouble, I think."

Blaine looked up as if to gauge Kurt's reaction. Kurt ran a hand over the still fabric covered leg in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.

"He was so mad." Blaine continued. "They kept… forgetting to feed me after that and I wasn't allowed to clean myself with the other slaves. He didn't want me to be sold. He wasn't allowed near us anymore, but his friends… if you hadn't …" He lowered his gaze again. "There's something I've been wondering as well, Kurt, if I may?"

"What's that?" Kurt asked softly.

"If they weren't going to… if he hadn't been about to… would you have taken me with you? If I had been standing with the others?"

Kurt's hand stilled. His breath hitched at the thought, because no, he wouldn't have. If Blaine hadn't been about to be murdered he wouldn't have even glanced at him twice, just like he hadn't looked at the other miserable men and women he had passed.

Blaine understood his silence and nodded.

"I'm sorry." Kurt whispered, seeking Blaine's gaze to make him understand.

"No, no, don't be." Blaine said earnestly. Then his face broke into an incredulous smile. "I guess I'm lucky then." He added, smiling wistfully, his smile not faltering when he caught Kurt's mystified expression.

"If he hadn't made me sick I would have been in line with all the others and you'd have walked right by me. If it hadn't been for him you wouldn't have seen me. I got lucky!"

"Lucky." Kurt repeated dumbfounded. "You really think so?" Hope bubbled up in Kurt's stomach that maybe he wasn't scaring Blaine as much as he thought he was… at least not anymore.

"I really do." Blaine confirmed, smile brightening when he saw a happy grin spread across Kurt's face.

Kurt finished inspecting the progress of Blaine's knees, still smiling to himself. "I think the swelling has gone down, that's great!" He commented, smoothing out the legs of Blaine's sweatpants. "Come on, I'll show you the first book." Kurt led the way to his room with Blaine following right behind him.

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**I hope you liked it! I don't want to make estimates for when the next chapter will be posted, but it won't take another year! Thank you for reading!**


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